Kashim Chowdhury, an east London civil servant who secretly held five full-time government jobs at once, has been found guilty of nine fraud offences at Southwark Crown Court. The BBC reported that he fraudulently earned more than £284,000.
The jury returned unanimous verdicts after about seven hours of deliberation on Monday, finding him guilty of eight counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by failing to disclose information.
Between February 2020 and September 2023, Chowdhury held eight overlapping public-sector roles and received about £350,000 in total pay, the court heard. Prosecutors said he supplied inaccurate employment information when applying and subsequently concealed his other jobs from employers.
He was allowed to work entirely from home after telling employers he cared for his mother, who had dementia and was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2023. Prosecutors said he used remote working to hide his jobs and sick leave from some employers to manage the workload. Organ said the workload became too much to cope with and his performance suffered.
Chowdhury told the court he had met the demands of each role. He said earlier insecure employment had left him afraid of losing his livelihood. According to the BBC, he had been made redundant from the Department for Education in 2013 and diagnosed with PTSD. He said stress, distress, trauma and panic had affected his thinking when applying for jobs.
He also told jurors that his mother's deteriorating health in 2022 had overwhelmed him. Organ accused him of lying under oath.
Managers described difficulties with his work. Dan McCartney, who supervised him at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said he needed continual direction and kept his camera off during video calls for four to five months, citing technical problems. McCartney said Chowdhury nevertheless obtained a permanent position because he was not subject to formal performance measures.
In March 2023, Chowdhury was on sick leave from four organisations while continuing to work at the Home Office, the BBC reported. At a video meeting in May, UK Health Security Agency manager Aleesha Adams believed he had applied white make-up to appear ill. Chowdhury denied wearing make-up and described the allegation as a smear.
Adams subsequently discovered he had joined the meeting using a Defra email address. He blamed a technical error, but she escalated her suspicions within the agency.
Chowdhury left the civil service in September 2023. His overlapping employment was detected in 2024 through the government's National Fraud Initiative, which searches databases, including payroll records, every two years for anomalies.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The case concerns public money paid through overlapping full-time jobs obtained and retained through concealed employment information.
- Managers' testimony and the eventual payroll checks show how workplace concerns and cross-agency data can reveal different parts of employment fraud.
Background
Holding more than one job is not, by itself, the same as committing fraud. This prosecution concerned false representations and failures to disclose existing employment, alongside evidence about how Chowdhury managed conflicting commitments.
Key Perspectives
Prosecution: Said Chowdhury deliberately concealed other full-time jobs and used remote working and sick leave to sustain an unmanageable workload.
Kashim Chowdhury: Said he fulfilled his roles and that fear of unemployment, psychological distress and his mother's declining health explained his decisions and state of mind.
What to Watch
- The sentencing outcome following the nine convictions.
- Any changes government employers announce to employment declarations, payroll checks or the handling of concerns raised by managers.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 2 sources: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedA civil servant was convicted over concealed public-sector jobs.BBC News: “A civil servant who secretly held multiple public sector jobs on full-time salaries has been found guilty of nine counts of fraud.”
- SupportedJurors heard Chowdhury was contracted to work 183 hours a week.The Standard London: “Mr Chowdhury was at one stage contracted to work 183 hours a week, despite there being only 168 hours in seven days.”
- SupportedChowdhury secretly held five full-time government jobs at once.The Standard London: “A civil servant has been found guilty of fraud for working five full-time jobs at the same time.”
- SupportedHe was found guilty of nine fraud offences at Southwark Crown Court.The Standard London: “Kashim Chowdhury, 55, was convicted on Monday afternoon at Southwark Crown Court of nine counts of fraud”
- SupportedThe BBC reported that he fraudulently earned more than £284,000.BBC News: “He fraudulently earned more than £284,000 of taxpayers' money.”
- SupportedThe jury returned unanimous verdicts after about seven hours of deliberation on Monday.The Standard London: “On Monday, jurors found Chowdhury guilty of nine counts of fraud after deliberating for about seven hours.”
- SupportedHis employment included eight employers between February 2020 and September 2023.The Standard London: “Between February 2020 and September 2023, Chowdhury, from Whitechapel, east London, earned almost £350,000 from eight employers, the court heard.”
- SupportedBetween 2020 and 2023, he had eight overlapping full-time public-sector roles.BBC News: “Between 2020 and 2023 Kashim Chowdhury had eight full-time public sector roles that overlapped”
- SupportedHe received about £350,000 in total pay.BBC News: “Between 2020 and 2023 Kashim Chowdhury had eight full-time public sector roles that overlapped and earned him £350,000 in total.”
- SupportedProsecutors said he supplied inaccurate employment information when applying and concealed his other jobs from employers.BBC News: “The prosecution told the court that on application forms he provided inaccurate information about his employment status and failed to disclose to government departments that he was already a civil servant. Once he secured the roles he didn't tell his employers he was working elsewhere.”
- SupportedIn March 2023, he was on sick leave from four organisations while continuing to work at the Home Office.BBC News: “In March 2023, he was on sick leave from four of the organisations he worked for. But he kept working at the Home Office and did not tell them he was ill.”
- Partly supportedHis overlapping employment was detected in 2024 through the National Fraud Initiative, which searches databases including payroll records every two years.BBC News: “He was finally caught in 2024 by the government's National Fraud Initiative, which conducts searches of civil service databases such as payroll every two years to look for anomalies.”