Investigation revealed claims of 15,500 clients were more like 500 or less

The charity, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, has already come under fire for misleading the public with dramatically inflated claims for the number of children it helped

Kids Company hugely exaggerated the number of high-risk young people it was helping, it was claimed last night.

The failed charity publicly claimed to be helping 16,000 high-risk people, but an investigation has revealed the number may be lower than 500.

The latest allegations emerged just hours after the Charity Commission launched a probe into the organisation, amid reports that taxpayers will lose £1.2million following its collapse.

The charity, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, has already come under fire for misleading the public with dramatically inflated claims for the number of children it helped.

But last night, it was revealed that the charity had misled the public more than even its worst critics feared.

The charity has claimed that it helped 36,000 people, including almost 16,000 who were ‘high-risk’. But those claims were wildly out of kilter with the number of young people on its books when Kids Company passed the details of its vulnerable charges to the authorities following its collapse.

According to BBC Newsnight and Buzzfeed, Kids Company handed over the details of just 1,692 adults and children in London, including 331 designated as high-risk. Bristol City Council was given details of a further 175 clients.

Even if all the Bristol individuals were high-risk, the charity would have been in charge of only 506 high-risk clients – just 3 per cent of the 15,933 high-risk individuals Miss Batmanghelidjh identified earlier this month.

A ‘high-risk’ client is someone under the age of 21, who is from a low-income family, or at risk of abuse, neglect or psychological damage.

A senior figure who used to work at Kids Company said the discrepancy was down to timing. The charity would have looked after about 16,000 high-risk individuals over the course of a year, but the figure was much lower at the moment ‘because you can have clients who move from medium to high risk in a matter of days’, the source said.

The damning new evidence emerged as it was claimed that the Cabinet Office expects to lose £1.2million of taxpayers’ money that it gave to Kids Company earlier this month.

The Government initially withheld the funding amid concerns over financial mismanagement. It eventually relented, but regretted the decision after the police opened an investigation into Kids Company over allegations of sexual abuse.

Last night, it was revealed that Batmanghelidjh's (who is pictured staff members during a rally opposite Downing Street) charity had misled the public more than even its worst critics feared

The damning new evidence emerged as it was claimed that the Cabinet Office expects to lose £1.2million of taxpayers’ money that it gave to Kids Company earlier this month to support high risk children (pictured are staff members)

Meanwhile, Miss Batmanghelidjh and chairman Alan Yentob were facing unprecedented pressure last night, as the Charity Commission said it would investigate the charity after ‘intense public scrutiny and speculation’ over how it was run. The charity received millions of pounds in taxpayer funding and was backed by high-profile celebrities including rock group Coldplay, which donated a reported £10million.

The commission said the charity’s trustees had welcomed the inquiry and were co-operating. The inquiry will liaise with the Official Receiver and Insolvency Service, and once concluded will publish a report.