Mohammed Chaudhari is accused of spending huge sums of EU cash given to him to set up English classes for migrants in Birmingham

An alleged fraudster bought a Bentley and holidays in Dubai after securing £1.1million from an EU fund for immigrants, a court heard.

Mohammed Chaudhari, 37, used bogus documents to secure grants for schemes promoting 'social, cultural, and economic integration' in the UK, it is claimed.

The money, from the EU Integration Fund, was intended to help immigrants learn English through projects in Birmingham called 'Integrating Communities' and 'Communities Welcome'.

But Chaudhari used it to buy a £55,000 Bentley Continental, holidays to the Middle East, jewellery and luxury goods, jurors were told.

Southwark Crown Court heard Home Office officials tasked with ensuring the money was being used properly 'didn't have the resources to really closely scrutinise every document'.

Chaudhari denies fraud and claims he was set up by colleagues at his Birmingham-based businesses Inspire Futures and Accent on Training, which ran the projects.

His sister Suraiya Alam, 43, and Victoria Sherrey, 66, are also accused of joining the scam between 2010-2015, while Theresa May was Home Secretary.

Prosecutor Edmund Vickers QC said: 'Your speciality is pulling the wool over people's eyes, isn't it Mr Chaudhari?

Your speciality is faking documents. Your speciality is providing documents that look like genuine documents but are false.'

The defendant replied: 'No, Mr Vickers.'

His sister Suraiya Alam (left) and Victoria Sherrey (right) are also accused of joining the scam

Jurors heard Chaudhari used £20,000 from a company account that had received cash from the European Integration Fund towards the purchase of a £55,000 Bentley Continental.

Mr Vickers said: 'Did everyone drive a Bentley at Inspire Futures Group? Did anyone else have a personal registration number?'

Chaudhari replied: 'No. No they didn't.'

He is also said to have bought jewellery and luxury goods while on holiday in Dubai, despite officially earning just £35,000 a year after tax.

Chaudhari claimed to have paid for the trips 'through my own salary' and 'used my company credit card' to pay for luxury goods.

He accepted there had been a fraud at the companies but insisted he had been set up by colleagues including former Inspire Futures IT manager Daniel Douglas, who has previous convictions for theft and handling stolen goods, the court heard.

'Clearly there are gaps in the system and employees could benefit from the fraud, this is a not for profit organisation at the end of the day,' he said, adding: 'I believe the real perpetrator was Daniel Douglas.'

Mr Vickers told jurors Chaudhari 'micro-managed everything at Inspire Futures', but the defendant claimed: 'That would be very impossible for an organisation of that size.'

Their trial has begun at Southwark Crown Court. All three deny the charges against them

The defendant, who says he 'hates maths', also claimed the level of alleged fraud 'doesn't add up'.

'Projects were being run, people in the community were benefiting,' he said.

Mr Vickers said: 'It's just nonsense isn't it Mr Chaudhari - you were spending money that you weren't earning, you had come by it fraudulently hadn't you?

'When you say you had worked hard for it all your life and it was a moment of madness, it was just an example of your greed wasn't it, and your ego.'

Chaudhari said: 'No, Mr Vickers.'

Jurors previously heard the defendants were 'cynically taking advantage of the relative ease of granting funding'.

They allegedly made convincing applications by 'providing false documents that appeared to be genuine and when audited by the Home Office they gave the appearance that the money was being properly spent'.

Chaudhari and Alam, both of Birmingham, and Sherrey, of Kidderminster, each deny four counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Chaudhari alone denies eight further counts of fraud. The trial continues