A former charity boss has been cleared of two counts of fraud.

Nasir Malik was the chief executive of the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema) before his arrest prompted its funding to be pulled and the organisation folded.

The 65-year-old was accused of fraudulently paying two cheques into his bank account totalling about £12,000 as well as dishonestly setting up a life insurance policy, which was paid for his employers.

Following a three week trial, a jury at Swansea Crown Court found the defendant not guilty of two charges - paying a £2,500 cheque into his account and setting up the death in service benefit.

But after almost eight hour of deliberations the eight men and four women panel told Judge Peter Heywood it could not agree a verdict on the third charge.

This related to allegations Mr Malik used £9,340 of charity funds to pay off his credit card bill.

Mr Malik's defence was the cheques he paid to himself were expenses he was owed he was entitled to a life insurance policy after taking a pay cut.

A suited Mr Malik made no comment to reporters as he left the court.

Awema was set up in 2001 and aimed at promoting racial harmony in Wales as well as tackling discrimination.

It was both a not-for-profit company and a registered charity and received grants from the Welsh Government as well as the Big Lottery Fund.

Mr Malik was initially appointed as its interim director, but was given the chief executive post on a full-time basis after helping to secure a major funding project.

His trial heard Awema started off as a small organisation but "rapidly" grew in size.

As part of his post, which earned him around £50,000, the court was told Mr Malik was able to claim expenses.

Giving evidence, the defendant told a jury that several of his expense claims were processed late - causing him to run up debts of several thousands of pounds on his personal credit card.

The court was previously told Mr Malik had been promised a pension when taking on the chief executive post, but the issue "rumbled on" for years.

He said Awema's board finally told him in 2008 the charity would contribute towards his pension.

The Kenya-born former NHS worker added that he believed that life insurance would form part of that benefit.

Awema later lost its charity status and funding as an investigation into its finances went ahead - bringing about its liquidation in late 2012.