A mother who founded a leading British private school has been charged after overseeing £5million fraud from its accounts.
Yasmin Sarwar, 43, from Cyncoed, opened Cardiff Sixth Form College in 2004 and claims to have ‘helped over 800 students’ gain admission into some of the UK’s most illustrious universities.
But there were said to have been irregularities in the school’s finances between 2012 and 2016 – leading South Wales Police to launch an official investigation.
And now the probe by police and the Charity Commission for England and Wales has seen Sarwar and two others charged with the theft and fraud offences totalling £5million.
Nadeem Sarwar, 48, from Pentwyn, Cardiff, and Ragu Sivapalan, 39, from Penylan, Cardiff were also charged.
The headteacher, who previously branded herself as the ‘tiger mum’, is due in Cardiff Magistrates Court after the Crown Prosecution Service authorised theft and fraud charges.
Police said: ‘Following an investigation by South Wales Police, with vital evidence provided by the Charity Commission for England & Wales, three people have been charged in connection with a multi-million pounds fraud and theft investigation into the former independent Cardiff Sixth Form College which happened between 2012 and 2016.
‘Yasmin Anjum Sarwar, 43, from Cyncoed, Cardiff and Nadeem Sarwar, 48, from Pentwyn, Cardiff have been charged with multiple theft and fraud offences totalling some £5 million.
Yasmin Sarwar (pictured) opened Cardiff Sixth Form College in 2004 and claims to have ‘helped over 800 students’ gain admission into some of the UK’s most illustrious universities
But during the 43-year-old’s tenure, there were said to have been irregularities in the school’s finances between 2012 and 2016, leading South Wales Police to launch an official investigation which revealed the £5million fraud
Nadeem Sarwar (pictured) from Pentwyn, Cardiff, and Ragu Sivapalan, 39, from Penylan, Cardiff were also charged due to their involvement
‘Ragu Sivapalan, 39, from Penylan, Cardiff has been charged with false accounting between 2013 and 2016.’
The former headteacher, who left the school in 2017, saw her independent school take the crown for the best A-level results in Britain.
It rose to rank above illustrious Rugby and Marlborough schools with pupils travelling all over world to take top A-levels.
At the time, Sarwar said: ‘I am a mother to the students. I want to make a difference in their lives and them to then make a difference in other people’s lives.
‘To create that difference in someone else’s life you need to create that trust – and say I am here for you because I care.’
The mother-of-one moved from Malaysia to Britain to study for her own A-levels when she was just 17.
After graduating with a Biochemistry degree from Cardiff University, Sarwar started tutoring A-level science students.
Ten years later she launched what would go on to be the UK’s top performing fee-paying school where 95 per cent of pupils achieved A-A* in their A-levels last year.
The mother-of-one, who previously branded herself the ‘tiger mum’, moved from Malaysia to Britain to study for her own A-levels when she was just 17
Cardiff Sixth Form College is the UK’s top performing fee-paying school where 95 per cent of pupils achieved A-A* in their A-levels last year
She later said parents seen her as a ‘mother figure’ and ‘somebody they can trust with their children’.
Cardiff Sixth Form College has more than 300 students on its register and attracts children from all around the world, including Albania and China.
Fees at the school were £15,000 per year for day pupils while international boarding students can pay up to £26,000 each year.
A South Wales Police spokesperson said: ‘Cardiff Sixth Form College has since changed hands.
‘Since the sale of the College the charity changed its name to Cardiff Educational Endowment Trust – 1123262 and is now operating as a grant making charity.’
