Saturday 19 September 2009

Brothers cleared in Muslim school fraud trial


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Two directors of a Muslim girls school in Kenwick have been cleared on charges they stole $355,000 of federal and state funds and transferred the money to Afghanistan.

The jury took just over two hours to reach their not guilty verdicts for brothers Anwar Sayed, 50, and Zubair Sayed, 33.

Flanked by their lawyers and friends, the two men rejoiced at their acquittals.

Anwar Sayed gave a triumphant wave and said he was "relieved" the trial had ended in his favour while Zubair Sayed said he felt "vindicated" by the verdict.

The brothers had pleaded not guilty to stealing more than $355,000 in April 2007 from the company which ran the Muslim Ladies' College of Australia.

The school was situated in Bickley Road on land owned by Anwar Sayed.

Zubair Sayed transferred the money from a bank in Cannington to a Pakistani bank account which his older brother - who was overseas at the time - could access so he could set up a school in Afghanistan.

The case against the two men - who were both directors of Muslim Link Australia - was based on claims Anwar Sayed had no legal entitlement to the money and that he did not have a genuine belief that he was allowed to withdraw the funds from the company account.

Prosecutors during the trial - which started last Monday - told the jury that documents showing Anwar Sayed was to be paid deferred salary and rent were fake, and that he did not inject enough of his own money that was covered by the $355,000 withdrawal.

The State also claimed the public funding from the Commonwealth and State governments was to help keep the Kenwick school running and to improve the facilities, and not to help set up another school in Afghanistan.

Prosecutor Alan Troy also accused the men of concealing the transfer by taking the funds without notifying key people within the school and company.

Defence lawyers for the brothers argued the Commonwealth funding was only for ''recurrent expenditure'' such as rent and salary, and as such, Anwar Sayed was legally entitled to the money that was owed to him.

The Commonwealth funding did not cover capital expenditure, so improvements could not take place with those grants.

Anwar Sayed's lawyer, Mark Trowell, QC, said his client had only taken about 30 per cent of what he was actually owed, and if it was not for his contributions, the school would not have got off the ground.

Zubair Sayed's lawyer, Andrew Skerritt, told the jury the 33-year-old had organised the overseas transfer because he was privy to the deferred rent and salary agreements signed in 2002, so he genuinely believed the money belonged to his brother.

Anwar Sayed had deposited almost $340,000 into the school over several years and the bank statements would support that, Mr Trowell said.


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School founder would have bolted if guilty: lawyer

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JOSEPH SAPIENZA
September 17, 2009
A man accused of stealing $355,000 from the Perth school he founded would have taken a lot more money and fled Australia if he acted dishonestly, a court has heard.

Anwar Sayed, 50, and his brother Zubair Sayed, 33, are on trial for stealing the money - provided through Federal and State government funding - from the parent company of the Muslim Ladies College, in Kenwick, and siphoning it to an account in Pakistan.

Both have denied stealing the money, claiming the money belonged to Anwar Sayed.

They say that because Sayed had ploughed more than $1 million of his own money into the school, he was legally entitled to withdraw the money from the school's bank account in April 2007 and use it to help set up a sister college in Afghanistan.

Sayed was in Pakistan when the money was transferred, but returned to Perth later that year. The prosecution says the money in dispute was federal and state funding for upkeep of the Kenwick school.

Defence lawyer Mark Trowell, QC, told a Perth District Court jury yesterday that Sayed had taken only about 30 per cent of what he was owed by the school.

Documents showed Sayed deferred his salary and rental income for four years until 2007, while he made cash deposits totalling at least $330,000 to the school, Mr Trowell said.

Sayed also deferred an annual rental income of $289,000 over four years and an average $35,000 a year in salary.

As one of three directors of the company, Sayed was authorised to withdraw funds from the company's account at his discretion, Mr Trowell said.

He added that no effort had been made by the two men to conceal the overseas transfer, as Zubair Sayed had given a bag containing cheque books to a staff member - which included the cheque butt in question - while the other signatory on the cheque "had no objection to the transfer".

The jury is expected to deliver a verdict today.


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Muslim school directors had no right to money: court

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JOSEPH SAPIENZA
September 16, 2009
Two brothers who allegedly stole $355,000 in public funding for a Perth Muslim girls' school and siphoned the funds to Pakistan had no legal entitlement to the money, a Perth court was told yesterday.

Anwar Sayed, 50, and his younger brother, Zubair, 33, have been on trial in the Perth District Court for more than a week, accused of stealing the money from Muslim Link Australia – a company that ran and helped set up the Muslim Ladies College in Kenwick – in April 2007.

The brothers were directors of Muslim Link Australia. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming Anwar Sayed was entitled to the money that was transferred out of the Commonwealth Bank account to a bank in Karachi, Pakistan.

It is claimed the money - granted to pay for maintenance and upkeep of the school - was transferred to set up a sister Islamic school in Kabul, Afghanistan.

During closing remarks, prosecutor Alan Troy said the school's board or treasurer did not approve any transaction for the brothers.

He further claimed Anwar Sayed had not put enough of his own money into the company to warrant the $355,000 withdrawal.

''There was no entitlement to this money that was transferred,'' he said.

''The prosecution does not say this is a case that Anwar Sayed did not put a single cent in to the school. But any money that he had contributed prior to April 16, 2007, was less than the money that was transferred out.''

Mr Troy said deferred lease, salary and rent agreements from the school to Anwar Sayed - who owned the land on which the school was built - were a ''recent invention, a falsity''.

''Those (lease, salary and rent) documents are not genuine, and only came into existence after the (police) search so as to justify what had happened in April,'' Mr Troy said.

Mr Troy questioned why Anwar Sayed did not take his salary from the beginning of 2005, when Federal and State government funding began to flow to the school.

He also noted the company accountant did not acknowledge the deferred rent - which indicated the agreements were spurious.

Mr Troy said another member of the company was forced to sign blank cheques, and that signatory only found out about the transfer in question a long time after it was made.

''It was a deliberate and underhand procedure,'' Mr Troy said of the transaction.

''It was quarantined and confined to the two accused.

''They took $355,000 from the account ... without convening a meeting, without notifying the accountant. They were the only people who knew about it.''

Lawyers for the two accused men will present their closing submissions this morning.


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Friday 18 September 2009

$98.4 million for kindergartens in WA

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The Hon Kate Ellis MP
Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth
17 September, 2009
Media release
$98.4 million for kindergartens in WA

The Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth Kate Ellis today announced $98.4 million to help build a world-class early childhood education system in Western Australia.

This significant investment will boost the number of kindergarten hours that eligible Western Australian children will receive in the coming years.

“Early childhood education is the foundation of the Government’s education revolution,” Ms Ellis said.

“We know that the quality of learning experiences during the early years of a child’s life set the stage for all future learning and development. And that is why we are making this major funding commitment.”

Ms Ellis said each state and territory has a different starting point, so will take different approaches to improving early childhood education, such as boosting the number of places, increasing the number of hours and reducing cost.

Welcoming the announcement, WA Education Minister Liz Constable said the increased hours of attendance would be offered at all public, independent and Catholic schools in WA by 2013.

“WA already offers 11 hours of early learning a week and has around 95 per cent participation and the Western Australian Government is committed to maintaining the state’s high rate of kindergarten participation and increasing the hours to 15 per week,” Dr Constable said.

“Schools will progressively be added each year on a district-by-district basis. The first group of schools for 2010 will be announced in coming weeks.

“By 2013 all WA children will have access to 15 hours of kindergarten by a university-trained early childhood teacher every week, 40 weeks per year.

“A priority for us is to improve the participation of Indigenous children to help close the gap between the achievements of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.”

The funding follows an agreement between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments to implement the Council of Australian Government’s National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education.

The National Partnership supports the Government’s election commitment that by 2013, in the year before they start full time school all children will have access to 15 hours a week of quality early childhood education for 40 weeks a year, to be delivered by a university-trained early childhood teacher.

“The national partnership will help make kindergarten services more affordable and accessible for families,” Ms Ellis said.

“The Rudd Government has committed $970 million over five years to early childhood education through the national partnership. Of this major investment, $955 million will go directly to the states and territories to achieve universal access to early childhood education.”

The Rudd Government’s Universal Access initiative will also be supported by a range of early childhood reforms, including the implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework, which began in July 2009. This framework provides guidance to parents and early childhood educators to support early learning.

The Government has also committed $126.6 million nationally over four years to support the training and retention of more, better qualified early childhood professionals.

“Governments across Australia are working together to create a world-class early childhood education system, so that our children can have the best possible start in life,” Ms Ellis said.

Further details on the National Partnership for Early Childhood Education and Universal Access to childhood education can be found on the Early Childhood Policy Agenda page at www.deewr.gov.au.

Media Contact:

media@deewr.gov.au

Non-media queries: 1300 363 079


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Thursday 17 September 2009

School theft verdict


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In the District Court in Perth two brothers have been found not guilty of stealing more than $300,000 in government grants given to a Muslim school.

Anwar and Zubair Sayed stood trial accused of stealing the money while they were directors of the Muslim Ladies College in the Perth suburb of Kenwick.

It was alleged the money was transferred to an account in Pakistan with the intention of creating a sister school in Afghanistan.

The brothers denied any wrongdoing and today it took a jury three hours to acquit them.


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Two charged after police chase

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POLICE used stingers to stop an allegedly stolen Holden Statesman and end a pursuit through Perth's southern suburbs last night.

It will be alleged the car was stolen from Shelley at about 8.30pm last night and was later used in an aggravated burglary in Shelley.

A police chase began after the driver refused to stop for a patrol car on Gosnells West Rd in the early hours of the morning.

Police followed the car through Maddington onto Tonkin Hwy, where officers had laid tyre-puncturing stingers near the Kelvin Rd intersection.

The car was driven for several hundred metres on flat tyres before veering into scrub.

Two men were arrested after being tracked through the bush by a police dog.

A 25-year-old Maddington man was charged with aggravated burglary, car theft, reckless driving, failing to stop and not having a driver's licence. He is due to appear in the Perth Magistrates court today.

A 17-year-old man from Forrestfield was charged with car theft and will appear in Armadale Children’s Court on Monday.


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Fire at cannabis operation

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Police say faulty wiring in a hydroponic cannabis operation sparked a fire in a Perth home.

Emergency service crews were called to the Gosnells home yesterday.

A search uncovered an elaborate hydroponic set up in 3 bedrooms of the house.

Police found a number of mature cannabis plants, about 6 kilograms of cannabis and a shotgun.

A 46 year old Gosnells man has been charged with numerous offences and is due in court next week.


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Stingers used to halt high-speed chase

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CHLOE JOHNSON
September 17, 2009 - 9:27AM

Two Perth men took police on a speedy pursuit this morning after stealing two vehicles during the night.

Police said a 25-year-old Maddington man and his 17-year-old accomplice from Forrestfield stole a Holden Statesman from a Maddington home about 8.30pm.

The duo used that car to drive to a house in Shelley, where police claim they stole another car, which they abandoned nearby.

Police said they spotted the Holden driving along Gosnells Road early this morning.

They attempted to stop the car but it continued to speed through several streets in Maddington and on to Tonkin Highway.

The vehicle came to a halt after police laid stingers on the road to puncture the car's tyres, causing it to veer off the road and into bushland.

Both men fled the car into the bush but were later found hiding in scrubland by police dogs.

Police did not say how fast the car was driving in the chase, but said it was well above designated speed limits.

The 25-year-old faces 11 charges including aggravated burglary and stealing a motor vehicle. He will appear in Perth's Magistrate's court today.

The 17-year-old was charged with stealing a motor vehicle and will appear in the Armadale Children's Court on September 21.



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Two charged after police chase

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September 17, 2009 08:30am

TWO men have been charged following a pursuit through Perth's southern suburbs last night.

It will be alleged the men last night stole a Holden Statesman which was later used in an aggravated burglary in Shelley.

A pursuit began after the driver refused to stop for a police patrol car on Gosnells West Rd.

Police followed the car through Maddington onto Tonkin Hwy, where officers had laid tyre-puncturing stingers near the Kelvin Rd intersection.

The car was driven for several hundred metres on flat tyres before veering into scrub.

The two men were arrested after being tracked through the bush by a police dog.

A 25-year-old Maddington man was charged with aggravated burglary, car theft, reckless driving, failing to stop and not having a driver's licence. He is due to appear in the Perth Magistrates court today.

A 17-year-old man from Forrestfield was charged with car theft and will appear in Armadale Children’s Court on Monday.


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Wednesday 16 September 2009

Eco walks and talks celebrate nature at its best

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The Eco Walks and Talks season is on again and with the wildflowers in full bloom – now is the time to experience nature at its best.

City of Gosnells CEO Ian Cowie urged people not to miss the opportunity to enjoy walking through Ellis Brook Valley with naturalist Marc Lane and see some of Perth’s most spectacular bush reserves.

“Each walk allows you to discover new wildflowers and local birds, insects and animals,” Mr Cowie said.

“In October and November there are also night stalks at Ellis Brook Valley and Mary Carroll Park respectively, where people can bring their torches and spotlights for a guided night time ramble to discover the local nocturnal animals.

“Mary Carroll Park is one of Perth’s major breeding wetlands and a haven for waterbirds, songbirds, migratory birds, reptiles and turtles.

“People can enjoy a range of special activities such as Breakfast with Friends on 4 October, 2009 – where nature lovers can enjoy a breakfast in the park followed by an informative walk around the lake learning about bush site rehabilitation and observing waterbirds building their nests.

“Also at Mary Carroll Park on 1 November, the Adventure with Nature walk offers a pleasant stroll around the lake and the opportunity to discover a unique ecosystem with naturalist Eric McCrum,” he said.

Mr Cowie said other walks included the Wetlands Ramble at the Brixton Street Wetlands in Kenwick on 24 October.

“This walk is followed by morning tea with live music by Peta Lithgo and Malaika,” he said.

“At the Flora Walk on 7 November, people can also discover the amazing and unique plant life on offer at Brixton Street.”

The walks are run by the Friends of Ellis Brook Valley, Friends of Mary Carroll Park and Friends of Brixton Street Wetlands and supported by the City of Gosnells.

A gold coin donation is asked to support the work of the Friends groups.

If you would like a brochure or more information please call Leisure Services on 9452 9901 or visit www.gosnells.wa.gov.au


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Day one ..

the following reply was given ...

Thankyou for your enquiry. Council meetings are conducted under the provisions of the City of Gosnells Standing Orders Local Law 2003, a co...