Two siblings have been found guilty of fraud offences relating to £50,000 of donated charitable funds.

Rajbinder Kaur, 55, was yesterday found guilty of money laundering, six counts of theft and one count under section 60 of the Charities Act 2011 – knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.

Kaur’s brother Kaldip Singh Lehal, 43, was also convicted, for knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.

The pair, both formerly of Handsworth, Birmingham, were initially arrested in July 2019 and charged in September 2019.

They ran an organisation called Sikh Youth UK, which was formed in 2016 and applied to be a registered charity the same year, Birmingham Crown Court heard. 

“When the commission asked for further information about SYUK, the information was not given, so the charity application was closed,” West Midlands Police said.

Kaur, a former bank worker, would transfer funds from the SYUK account to her own personal account and then pay off her personal debts and loans, as well as sending money to others including family members.

She had more than 50 personal bank accounts in an attempt to make it as “complicated as possible” to follow the flow of stolen money, West Midlands Police said.

The organisation received “countless donations” during fundraising events including a sponsored winter sleep out and a football tournament, both in 2018, police said. 

In October 2018, West Midlands Police notified the regulator of concerns relating to the organisation’s receipt and use of charitable funds. 

The regulator exercised its powers under section 52 of the Charities Act 2011 to obtain copies of bank statements. 

Several regulatory concerns were identified that warranted further investigation, resulting in the regulator opening a statutory inquiry in November 2018. 

The inquiry is examining whether those in control of charitable funds have properly exercised their legal duties and responsibilities under charity law in the administration of charitable funds held by the organisation, the financial management of the organisation, whether trustees have benefited privately, the organisation’s partnerships with other charities, and conduct of trustees.

The inquiry is also examining the organisation’s status in order to determine whether it is a charity in law.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “We welcome these convictions, which result from diligent and determined investigatory work by West Midlands Police, and the Charity Commission. 

“This outcome demonstrates that those who deliberately abuse the public’s generosity and trust in charities for personal gain will not get away with it. And it reminds trustees, and the public, that providing the commission with false or misleading information is a crime which the courts will take seriously.

“Now that all evidence has been heard by the court, we can continue with our statutory inquiry, which has been on hold during the criminal proceedings.”

Annie Miller, superintendent at West Midlands Police, said: “Kaur tried to portray herself as someone naïve about financial matters despite having worked in a bank.

“Sikh Youth UK 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 21 November at Birmingham Crown Court.