A civil servant accused of juggling five full-time government jobs took home more than £11,000 in wages in a single month, a court heard.
asserted
court → accuse → month
Kashim Chowdhury, 55, is accused of exploiting the post-Covid work-from-home culture to rack up roles with various unwitting departments for the government.
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Chowdhury → accuse → government
He allegedly lied repeatedly to secure overlapping jobs with employers including the Food Standards Agency, Home Office and Department for Business and Trade.
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He → lie → Business
Between February 2020 and September 2023, he held eight jobs, earning a total of £349,378, Southwark Crown Court has heard.
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Court → hold → 349,378
At the peak of his employment, he allegedly held five full-time posts and was contracted to work an extraordinary 183 hours a week.
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he → hold → hours
Jurors heard Chowdhury received £11,015.62 in take-home wages from five employers in April 2023, followed by another £8,745.88 in May.
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Chowdhury → hear → May
He allegedly told bosses he needed to work remotely to look after his elderly mother, and used sick notes to manage his workload.
But he would fail to turn up for virtual meetings while colleagues began to grow frustrated at his poor performance – unaware he was working at least one other full-time job at the same time.
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he → tell → time
Kashim Chowdhury, 55, allegedly lied multiple times to secure overlapping jobs with organisations including the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care.
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Chowdhury → lie → Health
He is pictured here heading to Southwark Crown Court
At one point, he even applied white make-up in a bid to dupe bosses into thinking he was ill, his fraud trial heard.
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trial → picture → bosses
When he did attend work, witnesses said Chowdhury appeared out of his depth and unable to complete rudimentary tasks.
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Chowdhury → attend → tasks
Donna Pearson, a financial investigator employed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), examined three bank accounts held in Chowdhury's name with Barclays, Santander and TSB.
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Pearson → employ → Barclays
Her analysis found 102 wage credits totalling £229,161.23 between March 2020 and September 2023.
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analysis → find → March
Prosecutor Lucy Organ asked whether these were net payments, meaning the amounts received after deductions for tax and other contributions.
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these → ask → tax
Ms Pearson replied: 'That's correct.'
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That → reply → ?
Each of Chowdhury's employers paid wages into one of the three accounts, the court heard.
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court → pay → accounts
Ms Pearson identified 31 wage credits from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets totalling £88,656.59.
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Pearson → identify → 88,656.59
Another 30 payments from Defra amounted to £74,500.29.
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payments → amount → 74,500.29
Jurors heard he also received 13 wage payments from recruitment agency Venn Group totalling £10,850.47, while six payments from the Department of Health and Social Care amounted to £13,914.77.
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payments → hear → 13,914.77
Six wage credits from the UK Health Security Agency totalled £11,810.31, while another six from the Department for Business and Trade amounted to £10,022.24.
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six → total → 10,022.24
Chowdhury also received six payments from the Food Standards Agency totalling £10,422.36.
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Chowdhury → receive → 10,422.36
Four monthly payments from the Home Office between April and July 2023 amounted to £8,984.20.
Ms Organ asked whether the financial analysis showed Chowdhury had received wages from five employers for two months in 2023.
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Chowdhury → amount → 2023
Ms Pearson replied: 'Yes, I believe that's one of my exhibits.
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that → reply → exhibits
The period was identified as April and May 2023.
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period → identify → April
The employers paying him were Defra, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency and the Home Office.
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employers → pay → Business
Jurors were also shown documents relating to a Santander account opened in 2012.
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Jurors → show → 2012
The application contained Chowdhury's name, date of birth and National Insurance number, and gave his occupation as 'civil servant'.
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application → contain → servant
Earlier, Defra investigator Phoebe Spooner was questioned about a Sony Vaio laptop which the defence suggested had disappeared during a search of the Princelet Street property.
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defence → question → property
When he did attend work, witnesses said Chowdhury appeared out of his depth and unable to complete rudimentary tasks
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Chowdhury → attend → tasks
Ms Spooner, a former police officer, told the court she had spent most of her time on the top floor of the four-storey property during the search.
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she → tell → search
An officer who searched the property had recorded that Chowdhury was in his underwear with shaving foam in his ear when he was arrested, the court heard.
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court → search → ear
Defending Chowdhury, Pieter Briegel suggested that a Sony Vaio laptop had been on a bed in the smaller of two bedrooms on that floor before investigators arrived.
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investigators → defend → floor
Ms Spooner replied: 'I don't remember that.'
Asked whether she recalled seeing the laptop at all, she said: 'I don't recall seeing one.'
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I → reply → one
Mr Briegel questioned her about the movements of other Defra investigators and Metropolitan Police officers during the search.
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Briegel → question → search
Ms Spooner said she could not remember which of her colleagues had visited the top floor or when police officers had been there.
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officers → say → floor
Asked whether she could say if a police officer might have removed the laptop, she replied: 'I couldn't say.'
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I → ask → laptop
-examining the witness, Ms Organ asked whether she had seen a Sony Vaio laptop in the smaller bedroom.
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she → - → bedroom
Ms Spooner replied: 'No.'
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Spooner → reply → ?
She said she had not seen anyone remove a Sony Vaio laptop or take anything from the property that had not been placed in an exhibit bag.
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that → say → bag
The court heard yesterday that three mobile phones and 15 memory sticks collected during the investigation were lost while being transported by courier to Defra's digital forensics unit in Newcastle.
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phones → hear → Newcastle
Ms Spooner said the exhibits had been dispatched from her home using courier company CitySprint, which subcontracted the delivery to DPD.
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which → say → DPD
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
