A civil servant who secretly held multiple public sector jobs on full-time salaries has been found guilty of nine counts of fraud. Kashim Chowdhury fraudulently earned more than £284,000 of taxpayers’ money through roles that overlapped in the spring of 2023.
Trial and Court Proceedings
The prosecution accused the 56-year-old of deliberate, intentional dishonesty and exploiting the system. Following seven hours of deliberation, the jury unanimously found Chowdhury guilty of eight counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by a failure to disclose.
The judge stated that Chowdhury faced a very significant custodial sentence and refused him bail because of the significance of the crime and for his own wellbeing.
Between 2020 and 2023, Chowdhury held eight full-time public sector roles that overlapped and brought in £350,000 in total. The prosecution told the court that on application forms he provided inaccurate information about his employment status and failed to disclose that he was already a civil servant. Once he secured the positions, he neglected to inform his employers about his other work.
Chowdhury was permitted to work entirely from home after stating he was caring for his mother, with whom he lived in east London. She had dementia and was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2023. Instead of reducing his workload, he continued taking on new roles. By the spring of 2023, he held positions at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency, and the Home Office. During this period, he was contracted for 183 hours a week.
Chowdhury explained that he took on the roles because he feared losing his livelihood following past insecure employment, having been made redundant from the Department for Education in 2013 and diagnosed with PTSD. He stated he was not thinking clearly due to stress, distress, trauma, and panic. However, prosecution barrister Lucy Organ told the jury that he lied in evidence and under oath, demonstrating deep deceit.
Poor Performance and Detection
Managers testified about his poor performance, including Dan McCartney from Defra, who stated he had to constantly direct Chowdhury and that Chowdhury kept his camera turned off during video calls for four to five months, citing technical problems. McCartney noted that because Chowdhury lacked formal performance measures, he received a permanent job and stayed for two years.
The prosecution stated he used sick notes to manage his schedule, being on sick leave from four organizations in March 2023 while continuing to work at the Home Office without reporting his illness. Aleesha Adams, his line manager at the UKHSA, arranged a video call in May 2023 after he had been off sick for three months. She told the jury that Chowdhury coughed, used tissues, and wore white makeup to appear ill, which began rubbing off during the meeting to reveal darker skin underneath. Chowdhury denied wearing makeup, calling it a smear.
Adams grew suspicious after discovering he logged in with a Defra email address and blamed a technical error when challenged. She escalated her concerns within the UKHSA.
Chowdhury continued his fraudulent behavior until leaving the civil service in September 2023, and was eventually caught in 2024 by the government’s National Fraud Initiative through payroll database searches.
