Civil servant Kashim Chowdhury on trial accused of fraudulently holding overlapping full-time jobs

Mixed · 2Kashim Chowdhury, a civil servant from Whitechapel, east London, went on trial at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday 13 October 2026, accused of lying about his employment status to obtain a string of overlapping full-time roles across government departments and public bodies. 1 2 Mixed · 2He denies nine counts of fraud. 1 2 Centre · 1Prosecutors say he earned almost £350,000 from eight employers between February 2020 and September 2023, and that at one point his contracted hours across five jobs came to 183 a week, more than the hours in seven days. 1

Mixed · 2The court heard he began at Tower Hamlets Council in February 2020 and took a second job at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in April 2021, with the two roles overlapping for more than a year; for four months in 2022 he also held a post with East London NHS Trust. 1 2 Mixed · 2After leaving the council, prosecutors say, he stayed at Defra while gaining further jobs with the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency and the Home Office, and by May 2023 was allegedly being paid for five full-time jobs. 1 2 Mixed · 2Prosecutor Lucy Organ said he made false representations about his existing employment when applying, telling the jury: "Clearly, he would not have been employed by his employers if they had known he had multiple other full-time jobs." 1 2

Mixed · 2The court heard he told employers he needed to work from home to care for his "unwell" mother, that the workload became "too much to cope with" and his performance suffered, and that he then allegedly took sick leave from some jobs while working in others. 1 2 Centre · 1He was signed off for some jobs with "mixed anxiety and a depressive disorder", but did not give his sick note to all his employers, the court heard. 1 Mixed · 2In May 2023 his UKHSA manager, Aleesha Adams, arranged a video call about his sick leave; prosecutors say he appeared "coughing and blowing his nose" with a white face and a differently coloured neck, and that make-up on his forehead began to separate. Ms Organ called this "almost laughable" and said it showed how far he would go in deceit. 1 2

Centre · 1Prosecutors also said he logged on to the call with a Defra email address and told Ms Adams it could be an old address, which Ms Organ called a lie to conceal that he was working elsewhere. 1 Mixed · 2The alleged fraud came to light after the National Fraud Initiative alerted Defra, jurors heard; Ms Organ said that between March 2020 and September 2023 he had over £300,000 paid into three bank accounts and nearly £250,000 in debits. 1 2 Left · 1The trial continues; the allegations are the prosecution's opening case and the defence case had not been reported. 2