Sarawak-Born Elite College Founder On Trial Over Alleged £5 Million Fraud In UK

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A Malaysian-born education entrepreneur who helped build one of the United Kingdom’s top-performing A-level colleges is facing trial over allegations that £5 million (approximately RM28 million) was stolen from the institution’s funds.

Yasmin Sarwar, 45, who was born in Lawas, Sarawak, and raised in Kuching, denies nine charges of theft and fraud in connection with Cardiff Sixth Form College, which she co-founded with her former husband, Nadeem Sarwar, in Wales.

According to the BBC, prosecutors told Merthyr Crown Court that the pair allegedly treated the college’s money as their “own personal piggy bank”, using charitable funds to finance their lifestyles instead of putting the money towards the institution’s charitable purposes.

Prosecutor Mark Cotter KC alleged that Yasmin began taking money that did not belong to her before attempting to conceal the activity.

Her former husband, Nadeem Sarwar, 50, from Cardiff has pleaded guilty to stealing at least £5 million between February 2008 and October 2016.

The charges against Yasmin remain allegations, and she is standing trial.

From Sarawak To The UK’s Education Scene

Yasmin’s journey in education began in Malaysia, where she attended SMK St Teresa’s in Kuching before heading to the UK on a scholarship to pursue her A-levels.

She had initially planned to study medicine, as reported by FMT in a 2024 article, but opted to pursue natural sciences at the University of Cambridge after her father became unwell, hoping to avoid placing an additional financial burden on her family.

She later received a grant to pursue her master’s degree in Cardiff, Wales. While there, she began tutoring young people in her neighbourhood, including students from underperforming schools who were struggling academically.

What began as a tutoring initiative eventually grew into the Cardiff Centre of Excellence in 2004, which later became Cardiff Sixth Form College.

The institution went on to become one of Wales’ largest sixth-form colleges and topped the Education Adviser’s League Tables from 2010 to 2017, according to a profile published by Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

A Celebrated Education Career

Yasmin’s career also included a move to Oxford International College in 2016, where she became chief education officer.

The college subsequently topped the Education Adviser’s League Tables in 2019 and became another prominent UK institution for students preparing for their A-level examinations and university admissions.

Over the years, Yasmin has been credited with helping at least 800 students gain admission to prestigious universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Imperial College London.

Her accolades include the 2011 Pearson Teaching Award for Science Teacher of the Year, for which she was invited by then-British prime minister David Cameron to attend an awards reception at 10 Downing Street.

She also received the Welsh Asian Women Achievement Award in Business in 2015 and a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction award that same year.

In 2024, FMT reported that Yasmin was developing an educational blueprint to help teachers create personalised learning plans for students. Having tested the approach in London, she hoped to bring it to Asia, with the possibility of adapting it to different curricula, including Malaysia’s SPM.

Somewhat active on Instagram with over 1,000 followers, her last post was on 21 September.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yasmin Sarwar (@yasmin.sarwar)

What The Court Heard

Despite the college’s reputation and financial success, prosecutors allege that its finances were improperly handled over several years.

The BBC reported that the college charged A-level students more than £30,000 annually, with boarding fees exceeding £70,000.

The court heard that concerns about its finances began surfacing as early as 2011, when an accountancy firm appointed to prepare and audit its financial statements was unable to complete the work because of prolonged delays in obtaining information.

Suspicion grew in 2015 when a college employee reportedly identified administrative problems and what he described as a culture of fear.

The prosecution also told the court that a staff member later questioned a sum of £1.8 million that appeared to be missing from the college’s bank accounts.

In 2016, the Charity Commission visited the institution after it fell behind on its financial statements. The commission subsequently identified concerns over the apparent mismanagement of charitable funds, launched a statutory inquiry and appointed an interim manager.

Nadeem has pleaded guilty to the theft charge, while accountant Ragu Sivapalan, 41, has pleaded guilty to causing an auditor’s report to contain misleading, false or deceptive information.

Both men have been granted bail and are due to be sentenced at a later date.

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Sarawak-Born Elite College Founder On Trial Over Alleged £5 Million Fraud In UK
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