A former executive of a Bradford community organisation, which received tens of millions of Government funding, has appeared in court on charges of defrauding the body of a "substantial" amount of money.

Zubare Khan, 35, who was the deputy chief executive of Bradford Trident, is accused of fraudulently obtaining more than £30,000 from the community organisation through false invoicing.

Khan is alleged to have used Bradford Trident's account for his own personal business use.

Yesterday he made a first appearance at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court to face a total of 49 charges of fraud by false representation.

All of the charges allege that bearded and bald-headed Khan committed fraud, at Bradford, by dishonestly making a false representation. The dates of the alleged offences range from September 1, 2010 to December 1, 2011.

The allegations include producing a false invoice to state that windows were fitted at a Bradford Trident property when they were fitted at his sister's home; an invoice stating that decorating work had been done at the Woodroyd Centre when it had been done at his own home; and one stating that Bradford North District Scouts had provided a minibus for Trident, when it was for his brother's wedding.

Four of the allegations are charged jointly with Mike Smith, of Church Bank Developments.

Prosecutor Charles McRae told District Judge Susan Bouch the defendant faced a large number of matters of dishonestly producing a false invoice.

He said: "The allegations arise out of a breach of trust where the defendant was employed by Bradford Trident Ltd."

He said there were 49 charges, spanning a period of time and amounting to just over £30,000.

Mr McRae submitted the case was not suitable to be dealt with at the magistrates court and should be allocated to the crown court.

Khan, of Parkside Road, West Bowling, Bradford, who was dressed in a striped shirt, blue jeans and blue casual shoes, spoke firmly to confirm his name, address and date of birth during the brief two-minute hearing.

His barrister, Chris Rafferty, confirmed his client was aware of the substance of most of the charges, but there was no indication of plea at present.

District Judge Mrs Bouch said she was satisfied that if the defendant was found guilty the sentencing powers of the court would be insufficient.

She sent the case to the crown court and granted Khan unconditional bail until the next hearing.

WHAT IS BRADFORD TRIDENT LTD?

Bradford Trident Ltd was formed in November 2000 to deliver a £50 million regeneration plan over ten years as part of the Government's New Deals for Communities initiative.

Although helped to set up by Bradford Council, Trident was a private company run by a board of residents, councillors and business people, with the aim of transforming the rundown inner city areas of West Bowling, Marshfields and Park Lane. Former Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood was initially the chairman.

The project was praised in Parliament in 2005 by a local government minister for reducing crime in the area.

And in 2011 Trident - then described as a neighbourhood management organisation with community hubs - was picked by the Government for a pilot Community Budget project, aimed at saving billions of pounds of taxpayers cash by transforming how services were delivered to local communities.

The following year, Bradford Council, which had been the accountable body of Bradford Trident and responsible for any repayments of Government cash that have been misused, agreed to hand control to Trident, cutting its ties with the group.

Zubare Khan was arrested in January 2012. He had worked at Trident for a decade and had responsibility for all its buildings, including the Woodroyd Centre, which had three GP practices and a children's centre, and the Mayfield Centre, which let offices.