A former civil servant has been convicted of fraud after a jury found him guilty of working multiple full-time jobs simultaneously.
Overlapping public sector roles
The defendant, Kashim Chowdhury, faced charges for eight counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by failure to disclose. After seven hours of deliberation, the jury at Southwark Crown Court reached a unanimous verdict.
The court heard that Chowdhury held a succession of overlapping jobs with eight public sector employers between February 2020 and September 2023. His employers included Tower Hamlets Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Home Office.
At one point during this period, he was contracted to work 183 hours a week. Each role he held carried an annual salary between £38,000 and £53,000. Prosecutors estimate he fraudulently earned nearly £285,000 in total.
The Crown Prosecution Service described the conduct as “sustained and deliberate dishonesty.” The agency said Chowdhury knew he could not legitimately hold multiple full-time positions at the same time but concealed his activity to receive multiple salaries.
Discrepancies in evidence
Prosecutors argued that Chowdhury used remote working to manage these conflicting schedules. He told employers he needed to work from home to care for his elderly mother.
On application forms, he provided inaccurate information about his employment status. He also failed to disclose to government departments that he was already a civil servant. Once he secured the roles, he did not inform his new employers of his other commitments.
During a virtual meeting with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in May 2023, the line manager noticed inconsistencies. The meeting was on camera, and the manager observed that Chowdhury appeared to be wearing white make-up to look ill.
The make-up was applied to his face but not his neck. As the meeting progressed, the layer on his forehead began to separate, revealing his skin underneath. The manager also noticed he had logged into the meeting using a Defra email address.
When challenged, Chowdhury claimed he had used a personal laptop and attributed the email address error to a “technical problem.”
Financial recovery and sentencing
Chowdhury began working for the public sector in February 2020 when he joined Tower Hamlets as a public health programme manager. By Spring 2023, he had five concurrent jobs at Defra, the Department for Health and Social Care, UKHSA, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Food Standards Agency.
