A GREEDY couple spent cash from a dog charity’s funds.

Two former trustees of the Chichester and District Dog Rescue Society were investigated by the Charity Commission.

A probe was launched into “serious mismanagement” after investigators found £316,120 was not accounted for.

The investigation found the sums were withdrawn from the charity’s coffers between October 2013 and May 2017.

It left the charity’s future in doubt because the former trustees were “reckless” with the funds.

The couple, who are now estranged, were not able to specify what the funds were used for.

The Government report claimed the married couple “received funds and personal benefits from the charity as a result of a breach of their duties and in breach of trust”.

The inquiry found the trustees had spent charity money on a number of personal items, including buying a £1,456 decorative log burner for the charity’s heated property that they lived in at the time.

Money was also spent on a holiday for one of the trustees, during which charity funds were withdrawn from a cash machine.

One of the couple also allowed family members to live rent-free at a charity-owned property by giving them roles within the rescue society.

Charity Commission head investigator Amy Spiller said the couple’s mismanagement “almost cost the charity’s future and will have let down people who trusted this charity”.

She added: “Rightly, the trustees have been disqualified and new trustees have been appointed to ensure this charity is now placed to deliver on its purposes and thrive.”

Investigators also found a number of irregularities in the charity accounts.

Despite the society requesting £100 from people who adopted rescued dogs from the charity, no record of these amounts was

found, despite claims the society had rehomed at least 100 dogs.

The charity’s credit card was also used frequently.

The Charity Commission claimed neither of the former trustees took full responsibility for any mismanagement and blamed each other.

The Chichester and District Dog Rescue Society is now led by a new board of trustees who are operating the charity “effectively”.

It has been revealed that in October last year Andrew and Christine Morley were banned from being charity trustees or senior managers for seven years.

Between June 2016 and November 2018, they were the charity’s only two trustees.