Brother and sister sentenced for charity fraud

A woman has been jailed for defrauding a charity she ran out of £50,000.

At Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, Rajbinder Kaur, 55, of Hamstead Road, Birmingham, was sentenced to two years and eight months for six counts of theft, one of money laundering and one of providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.

Kaur's brother, 44-year-old Kaldip Singh Lehal, of the same address, was also convicted of providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.

He was given a four-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

The Charity Commission said the sentencing showed "the theft of charity funds for personal gain will not be tolerated by the courts".

West Midlands Police said Kaur set up Sikh Youth UK (SYUK) in 2016, before applying to register it as a charity.

The Charity Commission closed the application after Kaur failed to provide necessary information, but Kaur and her brother continued to run fundraising events as if it were a legitimate charity.

The force said Kaur transferred money from the SYUK bank account into her own account to pay off debts, and also sent money to family members.

She had more than 50 bank accounts in order to disguise the flow of stolen money.

Supt Annie Miller said: "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."

Tim Hopkins, from the Charity Commission, said: "The siblings' convictions for providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission highlights how seriously the courts take the offence.

"In working together, the commission and the police were able to effectively deliver justice, as well as uphold public trust in charitable giving."

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