“SYUK was clearly a means to fund her lifestyle"
A brother and sister have been found guilty of stealing £50,000 worth of donated funds from their own charity.
Rajbinder Kaur was convicted of money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to £50,000 and one count under Section 60 of the Charities Act 2011 – knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.
Her brother Kaldip Singh Lehal was also convicted for knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.
The Birmingham-based siblings were initially arrested in July 2019 and subsequently charged in September 2019.
They were directors of an organisation called Sikh Youth UK, which was formed in 2016.
Prosecutor Tim Harrington said Sikh Youth UK (SYUK) aimed to support young people and raise awareness around issues including grooming, bullying and drugs.
In 2016, an application was made to the Charity Commission for SYUK to become a registered charity.
But when the commission asked for further information about the organisation, the information was not given so the charity application was closed.
SYUK received countless donations during fundraising events including a sponsored winter sleepout and a football tournament, both in 2018.
Birmingham Crown Court heard ex-bank worker Kaur would transfer funds from the SYUK bank to her own account.
She had over 50 accounts in a bid to make it as difficult as possible to follow the flow of stolen money.
The stolen money was then used to pay off Kaur’s personal debts and loans. She also sent money to family members.
At the trial, Mr Harrington said:
“Unfortunately for those who were generously donating one of the people who was running it, Rajbinder Kaur, was a thief.
“Instead of paying the money she collected through Sikh Youth’s bank account to spend on charitable causes and good causes, she stole the money.”
Later, she allegedly told police that Barclays had advised her not to keep money in the charity’s account.
Mr Harrington called the claim “nonsense” and said large amounts of money were also withdrawn as cash.
When the Charity Commission began investigating Sikh Youth UK, Mr Harrington said that in an act of “blatant dishonesty”, Kaur and Lehal sent an email lying to the commission.
Superintendent Annie Miller, from West Midlands Police, said:
“Kaur tried to portray herself as someone naïve about financial matters despite having worked in a bank.”
“SYUK was clearly a means to fund her lifestyle and pay her debts off, but in the simplest of terms, Kaur was stealing large amounts of money that had been donated by local people for good causes.
“This has been a very long and complex investigation into fraud, and we have worked closely with the Charity Commission to bring this pair to justice.”
Kaur and Lehal will be sentenced on November 21, 2024.
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