A MATHS teacher told a fraud trial jury she had submitted no invoices for any work she had done before the opening of a flagship free school in Bradford.

Sameera Ladak said she was paid a salary as an assistant principal after the opening of the Kings Science Academy in September 2011 but had not claimed for anything prior to that when she had sat in on some meetings about the opening of the school.

She told Leeds Crown Court she was shown two documents by the police in April 2014 purporting to be invoices submitted in the name of S. Ladak and that was the first time she had ever seen them.

One was dated May 31, 2011, for £2,535 covering payment for work such curriculum planning and schemes of work.

“Did you ever receive that?” asked Simon Kealey prosecuting.

“No,” she replied.

She said schemes of work could be downloaded for free on the internet.

The second document with the same name and address was for £630 and dated June 28, 2011. “Did you ever make a claim for that or were you paid that money,” asked Mr Kealey. “No,” she replied.

She said one of the dates mentioned on that invoice was a weekday when she would still have been teaching at her previous school and was not therefore doing anything for Kings.

The founder and principal of the school Sajid Hussain Raza, his sister Shabana Hussain who was a teacher and Daud Khan, the financial director are all standing trial accused of fraud.

The prosecution claim they diverted money intended for the school and that false documents were created to cover their tracks.

Miss Ladak said she was still teaching at a Leeds school when she was appointed an assistant principal for Kings Science Academy and only attended meetings as an observer prior to its opening.

Raza, 43, of Spring Gardens Road, Heaton, Bradford, denies four counts of fraud, three counts of false accounting and two of obtaining money transfer by deception.

Hussain, 40, of Wilmer Road, Heaton, Bradford, denies one charge of fraud and three of false accounting. Khan, 44, of Thornhill Place, Thornbury, denies two counts of fraud and three of false accounting.

Miss Ladak said she did not enquire about any payment for that attendance. “I was just excited a new free school was opening.”

She told the jury a few months after she started she began to have problems keeping her own child commitments when Raza extended the time of the school opening without negotiation.

“I found him a little bit unapproachable. I started questioning some of his leadership, although he had a brilliant plan to put the free school together and had a really good vision I thought his leadership skills were poor, his people skills were poor.”

She said he was abrupt with her when she tried to speak to him. There had been a lot of visitors going round the school and some HM inspectors without any prior warning.

“I said could we get a heads up next time so we would know who people were and welcome them accordingly. He was very brash and said it wasn’t my place to know who was coming and going.”

She said in April 2012 she was surprised to be told suddenly that her post had become obsolete and wondered who was going to be running the maths department.

Under cross-examination by Nick Worsley defending Khan she agreed a lot of staff were leaving. “It was a standing joke in the staff room ‘whose next’ “suggested Mr Worsley.

“It was,” she said.

“Was this hiring and firing seemingly at the whim of Sajid,” asked Mr Worsley.

“Yes,” she replied. She said she was told a Governor’s meeting had decided her job was obsolete and had asked for the minutes about it but never received any and “I just left the school quietly.”

The trial continues.