Nadeem Sarwar, aged 50 and former director of Cardiff Sixth Form College, has admitted to stealing at least £5 million from the private institution between February 2008 and October 2016. His wife, Yasmin Sarwar, founded the college in 2004, and it has since become one of Britain's leading independent schools for A-level results, ranking above prestigious institutions such as Rugby and Marlborough. The discovery of the substantial fraud at this high-performing school represents a significant breach of trust at an educational establishment that charges substantial fees and attracts students from across the world.

The college charges between £30,000 and £70,000 annually in fees and currently enrolls over 300 students from countries including Albania and China. A colleague, Ragu Sivapalan, aged 41, also pleaded guilty to falsifying auditor reports between 2013 and 2016. Both men entered guilty pleas at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, with the judge indicating that Sarwar faces a substantial likelihood of imprisonment. Yasmin Sarwar is separately facing nine counts of theft and fraud totalling over £5 million and is due to stand trial the following week, though sentencing dates for the male defendants have not yet been determined.