UK civil servant juggled eight jobs while facing fraud trial
Kashim Chowdhury, 55, denies fraud charges over £284,000 earned from overlapping government roles at Southwark Crown Court.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Kashim Chowdhury, a 55-year-old UK civil servant, faces nine counts of fraud for holding overlapping public sector jobs.
- Prosecutors allege he fraudulently earned more than £284,000 in full-time salaries from multiple government agencies simultaneously.
- Chowdhury claimed he worked flexibly and on an output basis, though his text message records went missing during a house search.
- The trial taking place at Southwark Crown Court highlights vulnerabilities in remote work monitoring within British government departments.
Kashim Chowdhury, a 55-year-old resident of east London, has defended himself before a jury at Southwark Crown Court against nine counts of fraud, denying any dishonest intent or acting deceitfully regarding his multiple simultaneous government positions.
Between 2020 and 2023, Chowdhury maintained eight overlapping public sector roles. Each organization contracted him to work full-time and compensated him with a full-time salary, resulting in prosecution claims that he fraudulently acquired over £284,000.
In March 2023, Chowdhury secured a position with the Home Office despite remaining contractually bound to full-time employment with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Department for Business and Trade, and the Food Standards Agency.
Court proceedings revealed that he commenced his Home Office duties while on sick leave from three of his other government posts, prompting prosecuting barrister Lucy Organ to question how he was well enough to start a new role if genuinely incapacitated.
"At that time I was just on auto pilot, I was like a robot, I was not thinking clearly."
Kashim Chowdhury
Chowdhury maintained that he had informal agreements with his employers to work flexibly based on project outputs through text messages, though the mobile phones containing those communications disappeared after investigators searched his residence.
Addressing the massive workload, records showed that by May 2023 he was contracted for 183 hours per week—exceeding the total hours in a standard seven-day week. He told the jury he managed the burden by working weekends from 07:00 until late evening while acting as the sole carer for his elderly mother.
This case underscores significant oversight challenges associated with remote working arrangements in public administration, where isolated environments can allow individuals to accumulate multiple full-time contracts undetected. The incident highlights the urgent need for cross-departmental data integration to safeguard public funds and verify employment statuses effectively.
Prosecutors also pointed to a May 2023 video call organized by his UKHSA line manager, Aleesha Adams, to address his sick leave. Adams testified she was startled when Chowdhury appeared on screen wearing white make-up, a claim that Chowdhury firmly denied during the trial.
Source: BBC Business
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