“He repeatedly misrepresented the true nature of his employment status"
A former civil servant has been convicted of nine counts of fraud after holding multiple full-time Government jobs simultaneously, allowing him to collect several salaries over a three-year period.
Kashim Chowdhury repeatedly concealed his existing employment status and history when applying for positions across government departments and public bodies between 2020 and 2023.
His fraudulent applications included declarations that he had provided complete and accurate information, despite knowing that deliberately making a false statement for this purpose was a criminal offence.
For more than a year, Chowdhury held full-time positions with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) before securing another full-time role with the East London NHS Trust.
The extent of his employment became particularly significant in 2022, when he held positions across 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.
Between March 20 and May 31, 2023, Chowdhury held five full-time jobs, each paying a full-time salary, while being contracted to work 183 hours per week.
He worked remotely and told employers that he needed to do so to care for his elderly mother.
However, concerns about his employment arrangements emerged in May 2023 during a meeting with his line manager at the UK Health Security Agency and a human resources case worker regarding his long-term sickness in that particular role.
During the meeting, which took place with cameras switched on, his line manager noticed that Chowdhury appeared to be wearing white face make-up to make himself look unwell.
The make-up had been applied to his face but not his neck, and as the meeting progressed, it began separating on his forehead, exposing the skin underneath.
The line manager also noticed that Chowdhury had joined the meeting using a Defra email address.
When questioned, he claimed to have used his personal laptop and attributed the issue to a ‘technical problem’.
The fraud was subsequently uncovered through a data check by the National Fraud Initiative, which identified that Chowdhury was simultaneously employed by two Government departments.
He was arrested at his home in July 2023 and made no comment when interviewed under caution.
During the trial, prosecutors established that Chowdhury had repeatedly misrepresented his employment status by accepting multiple full-time positions, claiming to carry out the work simultaneously and receiving salaries from the respective public bodies.
There was no evidence that he had disclosed his existing employment arrangements to any of his employers.
Following a two-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, Chowdhury was convicted of nine counts of fraud.
The prosecution followed an investigation by Defra’s Counter Fraud and Investigations team, which worked alongside an Accredited Financial Investigator to establish the financial benefit Chowdhury had obtained through his offending.
Specialist prosecutors within the Crown Prosecution Service’s Proceeds of Crime Division will now seek to recover the money he obtained through the fraudulent arrangements.
Sarah Melo, Specialist Prosecutor at the CPS Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate (SEOCID), said:
“Kashim Chowdhury deliberately concealed the true extent of his employment so that he could obtain and be paid for multiple full-time jobs at the same time.
“He repeatedly misrepresented the true nature of his employment status, while continuing to receive full-time salaries from other public bodies.
“This was sustained and deliberate dishonesty.
“He knew he could not legitimately hold multiple full-time positions at the same time, but continued to conceal what he was doing.
“His actions were motivated by financial gain, allowing him to receive multiple salaries through his fraudulent conduct, which we will now seek to reclaim through the Proceeds of Crime Act.”
