Mayor's adviser cleared of theft

Kumar Murshid was cleared of all charges

The London mayor's former regeneration adviser has been cleared of stealing thousands of pounds meant for the poor in Britain and Bangladesh.

Kumar Murshid was accused of paying the cash meant for charities into his bank account and spending it on staying at expensive hotels.

But the 50-year-old Labour councillor was found not guilty of five counts relating to the theft.

Nasir Uddin, Ain Uddin and Shalim Khan were found guilty and have been jailed.

A fifth defendant, David Joseph 39, of Grays, Essex, was also cleared of all charges.

The prosecution at Southwark Crown Court claimed £1,000 belonging to the Youth Action Scheme (1995) Ltd (YAS), a body set up to lobby for sport, leisure and recreational facilities in Tower Hamlets, was taken by Mr Murshid.

GUILTY DEFENDANTS Nasir Uddin, 33, of East Ham, east London, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of theft involving nearly £30,000, and jailed for 18 months Ain Uddin, 32, of Limehouse, east London, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft involving more than £10,000, and jailed for 11 months Shalim Khan, 30, pleaded not guilty to four counts involving £5,500, and was jailed for 12 months

The jury heard £3,500 was taken from the Bangladesh International Network (BIN), an organisation he set up to promote awareness of victims of arsenic poisoning in the third world country.

But Mr Murshid, 50, an anti-racism campaigner and for years a member of Ken Livingstone's political entourage, had denied any wrongdoing.

He explained the £1,000 he was alleged to have helped take - and which an ex-Labour council colleague has admitted stealing - involved a cheque he had signed out of ``trust''.

He also told jurors a further £2,000 he withdrew really belonged to him after a loan he had made to a relative was repaid into an offshoot organisation in Bangladesh for convenience.

Mr Murshid, of Goodhart Place, Limehouse, east London, was then asked about other amounts of £1,022.47 and £513.58, which had been used to pay for stays at New Delhi's five star Imperial Hotel in April 2001.

The councillor told the court he had used YAS's debit card to settle the bills because he had paid a similar sum in cash out of his own pocket to meet expenses in connection with an environmental conference he had organised in India.