Surprise, surprise!
A prominent Black Lives Matter activist and one of the key organizers of a 2020 protest has been sentenced to prison for fraud.
Daily Mail / James Beck/Bristol LiveDaily Mail / PA
Xahra Saleem, 23, of Romford, Essex, spent over £30,000 in charitable donations for her personal expenses, diverting the funds from their intended charitable purposes.
She is getting two and a half years in jail.
In June 2020, Saleem - who changed her name from Yvonne Maina - played a pivotal role in orchestrating the widely publicized BLM demonstration in Bristol, England. This event made headlines when the statue of the slave trader Colston was pulled down, covered in red paint, and dumped in the harbor.
Daily Mail / PA
After a police investigation into a GoFundMe page named "BristBLM," Saleem confessed to committing fraud. This page was set up just before the protest.
I suppose it was a good fundraising strategy since she raised £32,344 in donations from 558 individual contributions.
Instead of donating that money to local charities, Saleem spent the funds on her fabulous lifestyle.
The Bristol Crown Court learned she spent the dough on everything from takeout, rent, hair and beauty appointments, iMac and Amazon purchases, a new iPhone, and even splurged almost £6,000 on Uber rides.
Her defense attorney said she was "extremely sorry" and explained that Saleem was only 20 at the time, was living away from home for the first time, and that she had been drinking heavily, doing drugs, and had mental health issues.
When asked why the money never reached the charity, Saleem claimed that the BLM organization had told her not to.
According to the Daily Mail, other BLM organizers of the same protest were horrified by Saleem's crimes and that the community had lost trust in the group, which led to directors closing the Bristol sect.
Rebecca Scott - who was awarded an MBE for supporting disadvantaged communities in Bristol - told the court: 'This felt like our chance to really have an impact.'
She explained that they were 'blown away' by how much money was raised but were left feeling 'complicit' in Saleem's crimes.
Judge Michael Longman said the activist's victims included the young people she promised to help, telling the court: '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.'
The money is gone and spent by a con artist taking advantage of a social and political movement.
This narrative seems oddly familiar... like I've come across similar stories in the past. 🤔
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