Civil servant guilty of fraud after juggling five jobs

Kashim Chowdhury, aged 56, has been found guilty of nine counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court. He was convicted of deliberately misrepresenting his employment status to secure and maintain multiple full-time positions within government departments and public bodies. The jury unanimously found him guilty after seven hours of deliberation.

Financial Gains and Overlapping Roles

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Between February 2020 and September 2023, Chowdhury accumulated nearly £350,000 from eight different employers. This included more than £280,000 in gross pay during periods when he held more than one full-time position. At the peak of his deception, in May 2023, he was being paid for five full-time jobs concurrently. During this time, he was contracted for 183 hours of work per week, a schedule exceeding the total hours available in a seven-day period.

Prosecutors told the court that Chowdhury exploited the widespread adoption of remote working policies, which began during the Covid-19 pandemic, to conceal his multiple employment commitments. He also used periods of sick leave from some employers to manage his workload for others. In one instance, described by prosecutor Lucy Organ as "laughable", Chowdhury allegedly applied white make-up during a video call to appear unwell to his employer.

Background to the Deception

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The court heard that Chowdhury began his employment with Tower Hamlets Council in February 2020. He subsequently took a second role with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in April 2021, with the two positions overlapping for over a year. By 2022, he had added a third position with East London NHS Trust for a four-month period. After leaving the council, he continued with Defra while securing further roles with the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency, and the Home Office.

Chowdhury had informed his employers that he needed to work from home to care for his mother, who was living with him and suffered from dementia and terminal cancer. He told the court that her deteriorating health in mid-2022 had overwhelmed him. However, the prosecution argued that his workload became unmanageable, leading to a decline in his performance.

Next Steps

Following the conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed its intention to pursue a proceeds of crime hearing. Sarah Melo, specialist prosecutor at the CPS, stated that Chowdhury had deliberately hidden the extent of his employment to gain and be paid for multiple full-time jobs simultaneously. The CPS will seek to recover the earnings obtained through his fraudulent conduct.