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Three plead not guilty to elite Cardiff college fraud

Lucy Vladev
BBC News
Google Cardiff Sixth Form College is a red brick building with trees outsideGoogle
GCSE students pay more than £30,000 per year in fees at Cardiff Sixth Form College

Three people have pleaded not guilty to charges relating to a multi-million pound fraud and theft investigation at a leading sixth form in Wales.

Nadeem Sarwar, 48, from Pentwyn, Cardiff, was charged with nine fraud and theft offences totalling more than £5m relating to Cardiff Sixth Form College.

He entered not guilty pleas to at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Yasmin Anjum Sarwar, 43, from Cyncoed, Cardiff also pleaded not guilty to all nine charges against her, while Ragu Sivapalan, 39, from Penylan, Cardiff, denied false accounting between January 2013 and July 2016.

All three defendants were granted bail on Tuesday, with the next hearing scheduled for 6 May at Cardiff Crown Court.

The college on Newport Road, a fee-paying school for 16- to 18-year-olds, regularly records some of the highest A-level results in the country.

In 2016 it was the subject of the BBC documentary Britain's Brainiest School.

The college has changed ownership since the alleged fraud, with the charity that oversees it now called the Cardiff Educational Endowment Trust.