Sikh Youth UK founder and sister charged with charity funding offences by terror police

Woman accused of money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to £50,000

West Midlands Police have searched several properties linked to the arrests (Getty Images)

A brother and sister have been charged by counter-terror police over the alleged misuse of money donated to a Sikh campaign group.

Kaldip Singh Lehal, 38, and Rajbinder Kaur, 50, are accused of offences relating to Sikh Youth UK.

The organisation, based in Birmingham, is not a registered charity but takes donations for work it describes as “raising awareness on social evils and supporting the victims of sexual grooming, substance abuse and domestic violence within the community”.

Officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit initially arrested leader Mr Lehal, known as Deepa Singh, and his sister during a dawn raid on 3 July “in connection with alleged fraud offences of donated charitable funds”.

On Monday, Ms Kaur was charged with money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to £50,000.

She and Mr Lehal have both been charged with knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.

They have been bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 31 October.

In a YouTube video, Mr Lehal said the allegations were false and dismissed the “bogus claims” following a series of disputes with West Midlands Police.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales said a statutory inquiry into Sikh Youth UK was ongoing.

The watchdog said that although the group was not a registered charity, it had jurisdiction over its charitable funds.

“We have worked closely with the police to support their investigation,” a spokesperson said. “We intend to publish a full report setting out our findings on conclusion of the inquiry.”