Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,
A distinguished Black Lives Matter activist in the UK who used over £32,000 (€36,000) in donations meant for a youth charity to fund her lavish way of life has been jailed for 2 and a half years.
Xahra Saleem, 23, arrange a GoFundMe web page encouraging donations from the general public forward of a Black Lives Matter march within the southwest English metropolis of Bristol in June 2020 which culminated within the toppling of a statue commemorating Edward Colston, a Bristol-based philanthropist who profited in his later years from the slave commerce.
The web page, which amassed donations totaling £32,344, acknowledged that funds could be used for private protecting gear (PPE) forward of the march on the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, with leftover monies being pledged to Altering Your Mindset, a charity for deprived youths primarily based within the Bristol district of St. Paul’s which has a big African-Caribbean inhabitants.
At a sentencing listening to on Tuesday, Bristol Crown Court docket heard how Saleem pocketed the money and used it to fund an extravagant way of life whereas repeatedly ignoring requests from the charity for her to switch the funds.
Prosecuting counsel instructed the court docket how she made a complete of two,512 funds over a 15-month interval, shopping for herself an iPhone, iMac, garments, magnificence therapies, and spending £5,080 on Uber.
The court docket heard how Saleem started to panic when the charity got here searching for the funds. She reportedly despatched a message to a good friend on WhatsApp which learn:
“I’ve performed one thing horrendous… let’s simply say my mind spent it. I couldn’t inform you on what, the place, or why. I don’t know what I spent it on.”
Saleem had been made a director of Altering Your Mindset and its executives had begun to arrange a visit to the Gambia, West Africa, for younger folks, counting on the funds they anticipated to obtain.
Regardless of repeated makes an attempt to take receipt of the cash, it was not forthcoming, prompting the charity to difficulty Saleem with an ultimatum in June 2021.
In response, Saleem despatched an e-mail explaining she had spent the money.
“I’m so sorry, I’m nonetheless making an attempt to grasp my actions as nicely,” the e-mail learn.
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