A FRAUDSTER who organised the Black Lives Matter protest where a Colston statue was toppled stole £70,000 donations to fund her lavish lifestyle.
Xahra Saleem, 23, was today ordered to pay back just £1 after taking the money from a charity for disadvantaged youngsters.
Her heartless crimes led to Bristol-based organisation Changing Your Mindset, where Saleem was a director, closing down.
She was jailed for two-and-a-half years for fraud in October last year after she admitted using more than £30,000 to fund her lifestyle.
This included splurging almost £6,000 on Uber rides, as well as using the money for rent, hair and beauty appointments and takeaways.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing was told she benefited to the tune of around £70,000 but spent all the cash.
As a result, Saleem was only ordered to pay a nominal sum of £1, which will be increased whenever she has money in the future.
DC Anthony Davis, officer in the case, said: “Xahra Saleem admitted to defrauding a charity of a significant sum of money and received a custodial sentence for it last year.
“She made the conscious decision to take the money for herself, when it should have gone to young people in east Bristol.
“Blameless individuals who supported the charity were left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of this serious fraud.
“They were put in an incredibly difficult position of trying to answer questions about Saleem’s offending when they had done nothing wrong and were left devastated by what occurred.”
Bristol Crown Court heard Saleem was a “prominent figure” in Bristol and was involved in organising the Black Lives Matter march that led to the toppling of an Edward Colston statue in the city in 2020.
After the march made headlines around the world, well-wishers flocked to a GoFundMe page for Changing Your Mindset to donate.
The page received an initial payment of £30,653 but Saleem “succumbed to temptation” and kept the cash for herself.
Over a 15-month period, she spent the funds on an iPhone, iMac, purchases on Amazon and treatments for herself.
When asked where the money was going, the crook made a string of false excuses – including blaming BLM for advising her not to hand it over.
By the summer of 2021, the cash had been spent and the organisation closed down after the community lose their trust in it.
In a victim impact statement, fellow director Rebecca Scott said the charity were originally “blown away” by the money it received.
But once it emerged the cash was gone, Ms Stott told how she and other directors were made to feel “complicit” in the scam.
She also said a young person they had been supporting had died, adding: “What if we could have intervened?”
Sentencing, Judge Michael Longman said Saleem abused her position of trust and responsibility by raising money for an “immensely worthwhile cause” and using it to fund her own lifestyle.
He added: “Your dishonest behaviour continued for a substantial amount of time. There were a large number of victims. You must have realised how much your behaviour would affect so many people.”
