A violin of significant cultural value, worth £150,000, along with £1.3 million in cash, has been redirected to charity after being confiscated from organizations established by a businessman sanctioned by the government.
The Charity Commission, a regulating body, recovered the prized violin crafted by renowned Italian maker Riccardo Antoniazzi in 1912, and a sum of £1,388,000 from the foundations associated with Russian-born businessman Dr. Vitacheslav Kantor, also known as Moshe, who was designated as a sanctioned individual under the UK’s Russia Sanctions regime in April 2022. The violin, previously appraised at £150,810 in 2019, has been donated to a registered charitable organization.
The billionaire, Dr. Kantor, aged 72, had initiated and financed the Kantor Foundation and Kantor Charitable Foundation to offer grants for philanthropic projects and causes. However, subsequent to investigations, both foundations have been dissolved.
Joshua Farbridge, overseeing compliance and inspections at the Charity Commission, stated, “Upon designation, an individual is prohibited from serving as a trustee. Dr. Kantor’s failure to promptly resign, refusal to cooperate with the Commission, and lack of compliance amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement. Consequently, both charities have been terminated following our inquiries.”
Following the regulatory scrutiny into charities linked to Dr. Kantor, including KCF, KF, and WHFF, the Commission froze the charities’ bank accounts and restricted the trustee from disposing of any assets without prior approval.
In May 2022, the Commission removed Dr. Kantor as a trustee of WHFF, resulting in his disqualification from trusteeship and termination as a director of Kantor Trustees. Interim Managers were appointed for the charities, and unresolved Gift Aid claims were identified.
After clearing the charities’ debts, the Interim Managers allocated the remaining funds through charitable grants to various organizations in alignment with the charities’ objectives. In June 2023, the Commission concluded that the Kantor Foundation and Kantor Charitable Foundation were no longer sustainable and recommended their closure.
It was determined that as Dr. Kantor was the sole donor and with no available trustees post his resignation, securing future funding for the charities was improbable. Additionally, the charities’ reputational damage from the sanctions made fundraising or recruitment efforts challenging.
The Charity Commission also found Dr. Kantor accountable for mismanagement by not proactively stepping down post-designation and failing to cooperate with the investigation. Consequently, both charities have been dissolved and delisted from the Register of Charities.