A Birmingham brother and sister, Rajbinder Kaur, 55, and Kaldip Singh Lehal, 43, have been sentenced for fraudulently misusing charitable donations meant for good causes, stealing £50,000 (AUD95,000).
West Midlands Police said in a statement that the siblings, formerly of Hamstead Road, were arrested in July 2019 after investigations revealed they had been misusing funds raised under the guise of a charitable organisation they ran, Sikh Youth UK (SYUK).
SYUK was founded in 2016 and hosted multiple fundraising events, including a winter sleepout and a football tournament in 2018, collecting significant donations from the public.
Despite applying for charitable status, the Charity Commission closed the application after the siblings failed to provide necessary documentation.
It is reported that Rajbinder Kaur, a former bank worker, used her position to transfer funds from SYUK accounts into her personal accounts, using the stolen money to pay off personal debts, loans, and family expenses.
Investigators found she had opened over 50 personal bank accounts to conceal the flow of stolen funds.
Superintendent Annie Miller of West Midlands Police said:
“SYUK was clearly a means to fund her lifestyle and pay her debts off. Kaur’s actions amounted to stealing large amounts of money donated by local people for good causes.”
The case was described as a “long and complex investigation,” with West Midlands Police working closely with the Charity Commission to uncover the fraudulent activity.
The Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into SYUK in 2018 after receiving concerns from the police about the organisation’s funds. Their evidence played a key role in the conviction of the siblings.
Tim Hopkins, Deputy Director for Specialist Investigations at the Charity Commission, commented:
“The theft of charity funds for personal gain will not be tolerated. The convictions underline how seriously the courts take such offences.”
Rajbinder Kaur was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment for six counts of theft, one of money laundering, and providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission under Section 60 of the Charities Act 2011. Kaldip Singh Lehal, received a four-month sentence suspended for 18 months, along with 80 hours of unpaid community work, for also providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.
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