Civil servant who secretly held five jobs found guilty of fraud

A civil servant who secretly held multiple public sector jobs on full-time salaries has been found guilty of nine counts of fraud. Kashim Chowdhury, from east London, had five government jobs that overlapped in the spring of 2023. He fraudulently earned more than £284,000 of taxpayers' money.

After seven hours of deliberation, the jury unanimously found Chowdhury guilty of eight counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by a failure to disclose. The judge said Chowdhury faced a ''very significant custodial sentence''. He added he was refusing bail because of the significance of the crime and for Chowdhury's own wellbeing.

Between 2020 and 2023 Kashim Chowdhury had eight full-time public sector roles that overlapped and earned him £350,000 in total. The prosecution told the court that on application forms he provided inaccurate information about his employment status and failed to disclose to government departments that he was already a civil servant. Once he secured the roles he didn't tell his employers he was working elsewhere.