A former British civil servant, Kashim Chowdhury, has been found guilty of nine counts of fraud after secretly holding as many as five full-time government jobs simultaneously and collecting multiple salaries.
Chowdhury, 55, from Whitechapel in east London, was convicted on Monday, November 9, at Southwark Crown Court following a two-week trial. The jury found him guilty of eight counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by failing to disclose information. It reached the verdict after approximately seven hours of deliberation.
The court heard that between February 2020 and September 2023, Chowdhury secured eight overlapping public-sector roles across government departments and public bodies, earning approximately £350,000 in total. At one point, in the spring of 2023, he held five full-time positions and was contracted to work 183 hours every week.
His employers included the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), 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. He also worked for Tower Hamlets Council and the East London NHS Trust.
Prosecutors said Chowdhury obtained the positions by providing false or incomplete information about his existing employment. He failed to disclose his other jobs to the organisations that hired him and continued receiving full-time salaries from multiple public bodies.
The prosecution also told the court that he exploited remote-working arrangements to conceal his activities. He reportedly told employers he needed to work from home to care for his mother, who was elderly and seriously ill. When his workload became difficult to manage, he allegedly used sick leave from some organisations while continuing to work for others.
One incident that emerged during the trial involved a video meeting with his manager at the UK Health Security Agency in May 2023. His manager, Aleesha Adams, told the court that Chowdhury appeared to have applied white make-up to his face to make himself look ill. She said the make-up began to come off during the meeting, revealing a different skin tone underneath. Chowdhury denied wearing make-up and described the allegation as a smear.
In his defence, Chowdhury said he had accepted multiple jobs because of fears about financial insecurity following an earlier redundancy. He also referred to stress and distress associated with his personal circumstances and his mother’s declining health. However, prosecutors argued that he deliberately concealed his employment status for financial gain.
The fraud was eventually uncovered in 2024 through the UK Government’s National Fraud Initiative, a data-matching programme that examines public-sector records, including payroll information, to identify possible irregularities.
Following the conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service said it would seek to recover the money obtained through the fraudulent employment arrangements under proceeds-of-crime legislation. Chowdhury is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
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