DID BUPA FUND HAMAS

Bupa should answer questions about a senior manager’s charity trusteeship

Bupa has three straightforward questions to answer. Was it aware that Sumaiya Khoda chaired Supporting Humanity’s board of trustees? Did it review that outside role under its conflict-of-interest procedures? Did Bupa provide any money, sponsorship, staff time or other support to the charity’s 2024–25 Ramadan appeal?

Supporting Humanity identifies Khoda as its chair and describes her as a managing director responsible for operational resilience and third-party risk at Bupa Group. The charity’s trustees’ report names Global Relief Trust as a partner in distributing the appeal proceeds. That decision deserves scrutiny because serious allegations about Global Relief Trust were already public.

In November 2023, *The Jewish Chronicle* reported allegations that a Global Relief Trust manager in Gaza held a role in Hamas’s military medical service. Global Relief Trust said it was investigating and would bring in independent solicitors. The Charity Commission told the newspaper it was assessing the information. I found no published outcome from either review.

Supporting Humanity’s trustees reported raising about £214,000 across the appeal. The accounts give donors the overall total without specifying how much Global Relief Trust received. The trustees should say how much they transferred to Global Relief Trust, when they transferred it, and what records show where the money ultimately went. They should also confirm whether the partnership continues and explain what checks they carried out before approving it.

Bupa should confirm Khoda’s title and explain what its policies require senior managers to disclose about outside appointments. Did the company review her trusteeship? Did it identify any overlap with her responsibilities at Bupa? If Bupa provided any support to the appeal, it should specify what it provided and who approved it. The public records reviewed provide no evidence that Bupa participated in the appeal.

The trustees should answer for their own decision. Who approved Global Relief Trust after the allegations became public? Did the board ask for the results of its internal investigation? If the trustees relied on other checks, what were they, and what assurance did they provide?

The terrorism-financing question is whether Supporting Humanity could verify that the money it transferred reached the intended projects. The allegations make it reasonable to ask for that evidence. The records reviewed give no basis to say that Bupa funded Hamas or that any of the appeal proceeds reached Hamas. Bupa can answer for its own involvement and oversight. Supporting Humanity can show donors where their money went.