London civil servant denies fraud after holding five secret jobs

A fifty-five-year-old London civil servant has told a criminal court that he was genuinely surprised to be charged with fraud after juggling eight overlapping public sector jobs for three years. Kashim Chowdhury, who denies nine counts of fraud, testified at Southwark Crown Court that he did not act dishonestly when he failed to disclose his multiple employments. He described his mental state during the period in question as being on autopilot, comparing himself to a robot who was not thinking clearly. The defendant, from east London, maintains that he did not intend to make a dishonest gain from the situation, despite having been contractually obliged to work full time for each organization.

The case centers on the period between 2020 and 2023, during which Chowdhury allegedly earned more than two hundred and eighty-four thousand pounds by holding simultaneous positions with several major government bodies. These included the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency, and the Home Office. Prosecutors argue that he exploited a remote work arrangement and his status as a sole carer for his elderly mother to keep these roles secret. The evidence presented to the jury suggests that he was working from home entirely, which allowed him to seamlessly move between tasks for different employers without raising immediate red flags.

In one particularly striking detail, a line manager at the UK Health Security Agency revealed that she was confused during a video call in May 2023 when Chowdhury appeared with his face covered in white makeup. She had expected to see a man with darker skin based on his name but noted the unusual appearance instead. The prosecution contends that this was part of a pattern of deception used to manage his multiple workloads. When questioned by barrister Lucy Organ about how he could start a new job at the Home Office while on sick leave from three other positions, Chowdhury claimed he was told he could work flexible hours. He rejected the suggestion that he was overwhelmed, stating instead that he wanted to carry on working and that his output was based on project completion rather than strict hour counts.

Chowdhury’s defense rests on informal agreements made via text messages, which he says allowed for flexible working arrangements. However, the phones used to communicate these agreements were found missing when investigators searched his home. The court heard that by May 2023, his combined contractual obligations amounted to one hundred and eighty-three hours per week, a figure that exceeds the total number of hours in seven days. To cope, he alleged he worked from early morning until late at night on weekends. The trial continues as the jury weighs whether his actions constituted deliberate fraud or a series of serious administrative mistakes made while managing an unsustainable workload. The outcome will have significant implications for how government departments monitor remote workers and verify the exclusivity of full-time contracts.