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Civil servant who juggled five jobs found guilty of fraud
Jurors said Kashim Chowdhury concealed multiple full-time public jobs and earned more than £284,000 in taxpayer money, prosecutors said.
On Monday, his 56th birthday, civil servant Kashim Chowdhury was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of nine counts of fraud after holding up to five full-time government jobs simultaneously.
Prosecutors said Chowdhury "exploited" work-from-home practices to conceal his employment status, lying about his history to secure overlapping roles between 2020 and 2023 while claiming he needed flexibility to care for his "unwell" mother.
At his peak in May 2023, Chowdhury was contracted for 183 hours weekly—exceeding the 168 hours in seven days—and fraudulently obtained more than £284,000 while occasionally using make-up on video calls to feign illness.
Following the verdict, the judge warned Chowdhury he faces a "very significant custodial sentence," while the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it will seek to reclaim earnings through the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Routine database audits by the National Fraud Initiative eventually exposed Chowdhury's deception, uncovering his withheld employment history and highlighting vulnerabilities in vetting procedures when remote working arrangements mask simultaneous full-time contracts.