(UnitedHeadlines.com) – On April 5, Xahra Saleem, 23, an organizer of the Black Lives Matter protests that toppled the statue of Edward Colston in the United Kingdom, was ordered to repay just one pound or the equivalent of $1.27, despite stealing over $76,000 from a charity.
In October 2023, Saleem, previously known as Yvonne Maina, pleaded guilty to charges she committed fraud by taking over $34,000 from the charity Changing Your Mindset, a Bristol-St. Pauls-based group, which helped disadvantaged children. Saleem came under investigation by the Somerset and Avon Police after money began disappearing from the BristBLM GoFundMe page, which was created to raise funds to help cover organizing expenses for the June 7, 2020, protest where protesters toppled the statue.
She was sentenced to serve two and half years in prison after she admitted that she used the charity’s missing funds for her “lifestyle” expenses such as cell phones, Ubers, food deliveries, clothes, and beauty treatments. The directors of the charity said during Saleem’s October hearing that her theft led to the charity shutting down.
Despite taking the money from the 588 donations made to the organization’s GoFundMe page, during a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at the Bristol Crown Court on April 5, Saleem stated that she now has no money.
An officer in the case, DC Anthony Davis, said after the hearing that Saleem “made the conscious decision” to take the money intended for the charity “for herself.” He added that “blameless individuals” had given money to the charity and “were left to pick up the pieces” after her actions.
Davis said that, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Saleem will be required to “pay a nominal amount” of just over $1 based on her current assets. However, he noted that under “Section 22 of the Proceeds of Crime Act,” they can request a re-confiscation order at a future date if she has more assets.
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