The charity regulator for England and Wales has expanded its investigation into Barnabas Aid - also called Barnabas Fund - to include the activities of four charities that have links with the organisation. 

The Charity Commission announced on Thursday that it was launching statutory inquiries into TBF Trust, the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life, the Reconciliation Trust, and Servants Fellowship International (SFI). 

The charity regulator said the new investigations were being launched after it had identified "possible risks due to their shared premises, trustees and/or founders, and the flow of funds with Barnabas Aid, another charity under inquiry". 

Barnabas Aid has been under investigation by the regulator since last October over "serious concerns regarding its compliance with charity law and the use of charitable funds". 

At the time, it restricted Barnabas Aid transactions to £4,000. It has now moved to restrict transactions by the TBF Trust, SFI and the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life to £2,500 while it carries out its inquiries. Transactions over this amount require written consent from the Charity Commission.

The bank accounts of the Reconciliation Trust have been frozen entirely. 

"This follows concerns that charitable funds could be at risk," the Charity Commission said. 

The expanded inquiry will examine legal compliance in the governance of the charities, any risk to charity property and other assets, and whether there has been any misconduct or mismanagement by charity trustees. 

It will also consider the relationship between the four charities and Nexcus International, a US not-for-profit umbrella organisation that sits over all the global Barnabas Family of ministries, including Barnabas Aid UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Barnabas Aid said in a statement, "We are committed to openness and transparency and welcome the Charity Commission's extension to their statutory inquiry into other parts of the Barnabas Family and interconnected Christian ministries.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the entities listed in the Charity Commission's statement have always formed part of the Barnabas Family. It is right that the Charity Commission has expanded its work to include these organisations."