GETTY The aid project in question has been temporarily suspended

FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Now it has been claimed money shipped over to support the Free Syrian Police is being handed off to an Islamist group in the region. A BBC Panorama investigation claimed that money from UK taxpayers was being handed over to fundamentalists from Nour al-Din al-Zinki, who have been linked to a string of atrocities including the beheading of a young prisoner. Official documents from the British company running the aid project, Adam Smith International (ASI), warned 20 per cent of all police salaries are being handed over “to pay for the military and security support that Zinki provides to the five stations in areas under its control”, according to the investigation. ASI strongly refutes the claims, stating it has strict guidelines to ensure detainees are treated fairly and humanely. The show ‘BBC Panorama: Jihadis You Pay For’, which airs tonight (Monday) at 7.30pm, is expected to also confirm police worked with a Zinki court “by writing up warrants, delivering notices, and turning criminals over to the court”.

GETTY Taxpayer money destined for the Free Syrian police is allegedly going towards Islamist groups

The idea that British taxpayers’ money was associated with that would of course be wholly abhorrent Crispin Blunt

The court is alleged to be used to justify torture and summary executions, while Panorama have claimed police officers from the British funded force watched on as two women were stoned to death. Britain is one of six countries who have donated to the Free Syrian Police – with Boris Johnson announcing in April the nation would commit another £4million to the project. However all payments have since been suspended pending a Government investigation. Tory MP Crispin Blunt, former chair the Foreign Affairs Committee, said spending foreign aid cash on fundamentalists was “completely unacceptable”. He said: “You’ve got people being sentenced to death for homosexuality.

UK Foreign Aid: Where did it all go? Mon, January 16, 2017 Public mood changes following scandals over how the money is allocated. This is where the UK Foreign Aid was being spent in 2015. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 10 India = £150.4m

“Clearly that is completely and utterly unacceptable by any standard and the idea that British taxpayers’ money was associated with that would of course be wholly abhorrent.” ASI added payments to the police stations which were paying Zinki were stopped in August 2016, while donor governments were kept fully informed. In a statement ASI said: “ASI has managed the project successfully alongside our partner in an extremely challenging, high-risk environment under the close supervision of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and five other governments.” However despite pushing back against the allegations, a Government spokesman confirmed the suspension of aid cash flowing into the project would go ahead. A Government spokesman said: “We take any allegations of co-operation with terrorist groups and of human rights abuses extremely seriously and the Foreign Office has suspended this programme while we investigate these allegations."

GETTY Crispin Blunt MP said the idea that taxpayer money is going to these areas is 'abhorrent'

“We believe that such work in Syria is important to protect our national security interest but of course we reach this judgment carefully given that in such a challenging environment no activity is without risk. “That's why all our programmes are designed carefully and subject to robust monitoring.” Earlier this year ASI faced Government scrutiny after pressuring beneficiaries with funding cuts if they did not write positive reviews to be presented to MPs. Their actions were branded as “appalling” by MPs after the private British contractor was found to have engineered aid recipients into writing “letters of appreciation”. The letters were then used by the firm, who received millions in taxpayer's money, to show MPs their good work.

GETTY The Foreign office has suspended cashflow to the Free Syrian Police while the matter is investigated

In a scathing Government report on ASI, the International Development committee called the company’s actions “deplorable”, “entirely inappropriate” and revealed a “serious lack of judgement”. The committee discovered the firm had taken an “active” role in pushing the people who benefited from their aid payments to write positive reviews and cast their work in a better light. In one instance an ASI manager returned a “generic” letter and told them to write it again to “really highlight” how the company “has been exceptional and surpassed other programmes”. People close to then-International Development Secretary Priti Patel have said the MP believes ASI’s actions were “appalling” and “left a clear question over its’ ethical integrity”. A DfID spokesman added: “Like the committee, we are deeply troubled about the culture and behaviour of Adam Smith International."

GETTY People close to Priti Patel have said the MP raised serious concerns over ASI's moral integrity

“Recent events and the committee’s damning report have been highly damaging to our trust in ASI as commercial partner. “DFID has conducted its own forensic investigation into the allegations that ASI falsified submissions to the International Development Committee documents for commercial gain. “Since these allegations came to light, we have frozen awards of new contracts to ASI and we are taking detailed advice on next steps.” At the time spokesperson for Adam Smith International claimed MPs had since understood they "were not told untruths or misled, and that no submissions were falsified".