A civil servant who fraudulently worked five jobs simultaneously was re-hired and earmarked for promotion by bungling bosses, the Mail has learned.
asserted
Mail → work → bosses
Kashim Chowdhury was handed a full-time contract with Tower Hamlets' Housing Options team in 2024, despite being arrested on suspicion of fraud after leaving the authority in June 2022.
asserted
Chowdhury → hand → June
He was convicted of nine counts of fraud following a trial at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, and is facing a lengthy jail sentence.
asserted
He → convict → sentence
The alarm was raised when it was discovered Chowdhury was working for Defra and the East London NHS Trust on the sly, taking advantage of the work-from-home culture post-Covid to evade scrutiny.
asserted
Chowdhury → raise → scrutiny
And a whistleblower claimed bosses at the London authority – led by Lutfur Rahman's Aspire party – rehired Chowdhury despite initially sacking him.
asserted
bosses → claim → him
Chowdhury was even in line for promotion and a payrise after being charged by police, according to a former colleague, who said the council kept him on paid suspension only until recently.
uncertain
council → charge → suspension
The former colleague told the Mail: 'He came back in January 2024, he just randomly turned up in the council's homelessness service on a fixed-term contract.
'
asserted
he → tell → contract
Nobody could tell you what he ever did, he just used to pop up in meetings and be very silent on things.
uncertain
he → tell → things
Kashim Chowdhury has been remanded in custody after being found guilty of fraud while working at Tower Hamlets council and other taxpayer-funded organisations
'
asserted
Chowdhury → remand → council
Kashim got really lucky because nobody really knew what he was doing, but he was on about £55,000 a year.
asserted
he → get → 55,000
Then he was made permanent.
asserted
he → make → ?
Nobody was really managing him.
asserted
Nobody → manage → him
The same HR adviser who sacked him recruited him again, I kid you not.'
asserted
I → sack → you
The whistleblower said he confronted the HR team about the decision to rehire Chowdhury, but was told he 'just didn't put two and two together'.
asserted
he → say → two
Chowdhury is among the more than 300 public sector staff caught working multiple jobs in the last decade.
asserted
Chowdhury → catch → decade
The trial heard the 56-year-old held down up to five full-time jobs simultaneously, across Government departments including the Home Office, in a scam worth more than £280,000.
asserted
old → hear → scam
But prosecution witnesses described how Chowdhury's performance was often as pitiful as his attendance.
asserted
performance → describe → attendance
He used sick days and annual leave to manage his workload, working from his £2million home in east London where he cared for his sick mother.
asserted
he → use → mother
That six-bedroom property, just off fashionable Brick Lane, is currently the subject of a dispute involving Chowdhury's three older siblings.
asserted
property → involve → siblings
Chowdhury, 56, was allegedly re-hired by bosses and lined up for promotion, despite being arrested
They have launched legal proceedings against him after accusing him of pressurising their cancer-ridden mother into signing over half of the house to him.
uncertain
They → re → him
The judge overseeing the civil claim, held at the High Court in the middle of Chowdhury's fraud trial, will deliver her verdict at a later date.
uncertain
judge → oversee → date
Questions will now be asked about how Chowdhury was able to successfully dupe bosses and pass vetting systems designed to flag unsuitable candidates – including those with concurrent employment.
asserted
Chowdhury → ask → employment
The former colleague said the first anyone knew about Chowdhury's secret life working multiple jobs was when the Daily Mail exclusively broke the story in March last year.
asserted
Mail → say → March
'That article came out, and I s**t you not, it spread like wildfire because nobody knew,' he said.
'When it came out, he (Chowdhury) tried to deny it, said it wasn't him.
asserted
it → come → it
'He said it must have been another "Kashim Chowdhury".
asserted
it → say → ?
Then there were pictures, and then he said: "No, no, no, don't worry, it's just a misunderstanding".'
asserted
it → be → ?
The whistleblower said Chowdhury was suspended on full pay some weeks later, but was only sacked recently.
asserted
Chowdhury → say → pay
Chowdhury denied fraud during his trial at Southwark Crown Court
The colleague believes Chowdhury's deception was always likely to catch up with him because he apparently used his exact same name and National Insurance number each time.
asserted
he → deny → name
He said: 'All of us were shocked when we saw it (the fraud allegation), because when you look at some people, you think, oh, they can do that, you'd expect them.
asserted
you → say → them
And the bollocks of the man as well, to come back somewhere that he's been sacked from before.
asserted
he → come → that
'You have to remember, 10,000 people work for Tower Hamlets so you're not going to know everyone, but I swear to God if the Mail article hadn't come out he would still be working there.'
asserted
he → have → God
Remarkably, Chowdhury was still in line for a promotion and a new salary in excess of £60,000, months after he was suspended last year, it was claimed on Monday.
asserted
it → suspend → Monday
The former colleague said: 'Not only were they going to give him another permanent contract, they were going to give him a pay rise.
'
asserted
they → say → rise
The guy got sacked the first time.
asserted
guy → sack → ?
Somehow came back in - nobody knows how, gets sacked a second time, now he's gonna be given a permanent job and a pay rise?
asserted
he → come → job
'
Chowdhury did not share any details about his family life with colleagues apart from one 'bizarre' work event where he brought his wife, said to be from an arranged marriage in Bangladesh in 2019.
asserted
he → share → 2019
It was only weird because it was a work event and yet he brought his wife along,' a witness said.
asserted
witness → bring → wife
'He wasn't integrated - he was aloof, very strange, just an odd ball.
asserted
he → integrate → ?
Colleagues – and there is no shortage of them, given his employment history – have seen the funny side of the case.
asserted
Colleagues → be → case
Not long after the Mail published pictures of Chowdhury, amused workmates created memes featuring the defendant.
asserted
workmates → publish → defendant
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
