Civil servant convicted of juggling five government jobs, earning £350k in fraud
Kashim Chowdhury, 56, was found guilty of nine counts of fraud after secretly holding up to five full-time public sector roles simultaneously. He faces an immediate custodial sentence.
Whitechapel man remanded in custody after government job fraud conviction
A London civil servant faces an immediate jail term after being convicted of fraud for secretly holding up to five full-time government jobs at the same time, exploiting remote working and sick notes to manage the workload, the Evening Standard reports.
Kashim Chowdhury, 56, of Whitechapel, east London, was found guilty of nine counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court following approximately seven hours of jury deliberation. Between February 2020 and September 2023, he earned almost £350,000 from eight employers across government departments and public bodies — more than £280,000 of which came from months in which he held more than one full-time position simultaneously.
Judge Mark Weekes remanded Chowdhury in custody on his birthday. He told the court that Chowdhury faces an immediate custodial sentence, with prosecutors suggesting a starting point of five years and a range of between three and six years.
"It seems to me that in consequence of events over the last few weeks, unfortunately this is a defendant whose world from his point of view must appear to be collapsing around him," the judge said.
Judge Weekes also cited the sentence Chowdhury faces as offering "every incentive" to fail to surrender, noting that he remains "a defendant, even with restraint measures in place, with access to substantial funds".
Five roles, 183 contracted hours a week
Chowdhury began his overlapping employment in February 2020 when he started working for Tower Hamlets Council. He took a second role with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in April 2021, with the two positions overlapping for more than a year. For four months in 2022, he also held a third post with East London NHS Trust.
After leaving the council, Chowdhury continued with Defra while accumulating further positions at 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. By May 2023, he was being paid for five full-time jobs simultaneously.
At one point, his contracted hours totalled 183 per week — more hours than exist in seven days, the court heard.
Prosecutor Lucy Organ told jurors that Chowdhury had made false representations about his existing employment when applying for each role. "Clearly, he would not have been employed by his employers if they had known he had multiple other full-time jobs," she said.
White make-up and sick notes
Prosecutors said Chowdhury "exploited" the work-from-home culture that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic to conceal his multiple positions. When his workload became unmanageable, he took sick leave from some employers while continuing to work in others.
In one incident described by prosecutor Organ as "laughable", Chowdhury allegedly wore white make-up during a video call with his manager in an apparent attempt to appear ill.
Chowdhury had also told employers he needed to work from home to care for his "unwell" mother. During the trial he told the court that around May and June 2022 his mother's health had "deteriorated", saying: "That overwhelmed me at the time." He previously described work as his "lifeline".
CPS to pursue proceeds of crime
The Crown Prosecution Service said it will seek to reclaim Chowdhury's fraudulent earnings through a proceeds of crime hearing.
Sarah Melo, specialist prosecutor at the CPS Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate, said after the verdicts that Chowdhury had "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," Melo said. "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."
She added: "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."
Chowdhury wore a large grey knitted jumper in court and sat staring blankly during proceedings as the verdicts were delivered. Sentencing is yet to be scheduled.
Source: Evening Standard