BARNABAS AID WAS AN ILLEGAL TAKEOVER SAY SOLICITORS

Seizure by US Non-Profit Org. to grab UK ministry declared illegitimate.

Report includes unfounded claims of spiritual abuse

SPECIAL REPORT

By David W. Virtue, DD

www.virtueonline.org

February 26, 2026

British lawyers investigating the recent “takeover” of Barnabas Aid, an international aid agency founded in 1993 by Patrick Sookhdeo focusing on supporting Christians facing persecution due to their faith, say that it was an illegal, illegitimate seizure of the organization. The lawyers who conducted the independent investigation, Camerons Solicitors LLP, were appointed and paid by KAF Kiti Almond Foundation, not by Barnabas Aid. Their report, published in January 2026, indicates that a 2024 investigation by another law firm under the supervision of Colin Bloom, the British politician who has controlled Barnabas Aid since the “takeover” in 2024, may have been misused as a tactical pretext rather than a genuine inquiry.

Patrick and Rosemary Sookhdeo and Caroline Kerslake (a long-term employee), voluntarily agreed to take a leave of absence from the ministry in April 2024 while their ministry was under investigation.

The solicitors contend that Nexcus International, which conducted the “takeover”, is a US 501©3 organization, and its actions in seizing control of Barnabas Aid are legally invalid. They maintain that an English registered charity cannot lawfully subordinate its governance to a foreign, unregulated corporation, as this violates fundamental principles of charity law!

The Charity Commission for England and Wales, a statutory regulator body, maintains "The Essential Trustee," mandates that trustees must act personally and cannot delegate their ultimate responsibility or fetter their discretion to a third party like Nexcus.

A CRITIQUE OF THE CROWELL & MORING REPORT

The Camerons 2026 report examines the 2024 report by London law firm Crowell & Moring. The Crowell investigation was prompted by a sudden spate of anonymous whistleblower complaints and was led, according to his own admittance, by Colin Bloom, the CEO of Nexcus International.

Camerons delivers a scathing critique of the Crowell report, questioning its independence, impartiality, and integrity—the three pillars of a fair judicial process. Key criticisms include:

It ignored its own findings on Noel Frost, a South African lawyer who has been struck off for stealing from clients. Frost oversaw the flow of tens of millions of dollars worth of donations as the international CEO of Barnabas Aid, but he was later dismissed for stealing from Barnabas Aid.

Despite concluding that Frost was dishonest and had orchestrated the whistleblower complaints against the founders, Crowell’s main analysis of the founders’ conduct completely ignores this context. This was described as “willful blindness.”

Presenting uncorroborated and sensational allegations as fact: The Camerons report highlights several new, extreme allegations inserted into the final version of the Crowell report (e.g., physical bullying, spiritual abuse, seeking corrupt payments) that are based on hearsay, lack evidence, and appear designed to smear the founders without a fair hearing.

Failing to consider exculpatory context: For instance, complaints about the founders' travel or management style are presented without acknowledging the health issues of the Sookhdeos, now aged 78 and 82 and facing terminal illnesses, their strategic (not operational) roles, or the fact that many staff had little direct contact with them due to Frost’s efforts to isolate them.

BIAS DEMONSTRATED

The Camerons report notes that Crowell accepted the authority of the Nexcus/Barnabas MOU without questioning its legality under charity law.

A key pillar of the report’s argument is that the entire crisis was orchestrated by Noel Frost, Barnabas’s former CEO. The solicitors present evidence, including from the Crowell report itself, that Frost systematically isolated the founders (Patrick and Rosemary Sookhdeo and Caroline Kerslake) from staff, recruited a loyalist team, and actively encouraged a campaign of anonymous whistle-blower complaints to engineer their removal.

His motive was apparently to seize control of the organization and its resources.

The report details Frost’s serious personal misconduct, which it argues fatally undermines the legitimacy of the takeover he prepared, a takeover which Colin Bloom continued to its conclusion after Frost was suspended. This includes a South African High Court judgment that struck Frost off the legal rolls for being a “grossly dishonest individual” who stole client funds and forged documents. Camerons solicitors are critical of Crowell for giving this judgment only muted attention and for initially asking Barnabas not to report it to the Charity Commission.

The numerous allegations against the founders are systematically challenged in the Crowell report. The solicitors argue that Crowell’s claims of a "hostile environment" and "spiritual abuse" are either unsubstantiated, taken out of context, or were the direct result of Frost’s manipulations.

There is not a shred of evidence of “spiritual abuse”, nor any complaints claiming such, even though Crowell devoted a section to this subject in their report.

Camerons assert that many staff had little to no interaction with the founders due to Frost’s isolation tactics, making staff complaints about management style implausible. Specific new allegations in Crowell’s final report, such as Patrick Sookhdeo seeking a corrupt payment, are dismissed as uncorroborated hearsay that should never have been included.

Regarding financial allegations, the Camerons report provides detailed, legitimate explanations for all payments to the founders, refuting claims of impropriety. Payments totaling over £1.3 million ($1.8 million) are shown to be from three main sources: the sale of a property left to them in trust, long-standing personal support donations from a Bahamian church ("living by faith" contributions), and gifts from a major donor channeled through a separate trust for their personal support. These were not illicit benefits but properly documented and trustee-approved arrangements consistent with the founders’ lifelong commitment to unsalaried ministry.

The report concludes that the actions of Nexcus since April 2024—including locking out the majority Barnabas trustees from offices and records, and preventing access to Barnabas bank accounts—have been unlawful.

The solicitors express deep concern that a foreign corporation, acting on the machinations of a "grossly dishonest" individual, has been allowed to dismantle a major UK charity with apparent impunity, causing significant reputational damage and the loss of three-quarters of its staff.

END