Kashim Chowdhury

Introduction

Kashim Chowdhury, 56, a civil servant from Whitechapel in east London, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of nine counts of fraud after jurors heard he used remote working and sick notes to juggle up to five full-time government jobs at the same time. Between February 2020 and September 2023 he earned almost £350,000 from eight employers across Government departments and public bodies — including more than £280,000 in gross pay for months in which he held more than one full-time job. The judge remanded him in custody and told him he faces an immediate prison sentence.

Background Information

Chowdhury began working for Tower Hamlets Council in February 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed white-collar work online. Prosecutors said he “exploited” the new work-from-home culture to conceal overlapping employment, taking a second job with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in April 2021 — a role that overlapped with his council job for more than a year. For four months in 2022 he also held a third position with East London NHS Trust. After leaving the council, he continued at Defra while adding jobs with the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency and the Home Office.

By May 2023, the court heard, he was being paid for five full-time jobs at once, and at one point was contracted to work 183 hours a week — more hours than actually exist in seven days. Chowdhury told employers he needed to work from home to care for his “unwell” mother.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted of nine counts of fraud; sentencing pending. The jury’s verdicts are in but Chowdhury has not yet been sentenced; the prosecution’s suggested starting point is five years, within a range of three to six.

Prosecutor Lucy Organ told jurors that Chowdhury made false representations about his existing employment when applying for each new role. His workload eventually became “too much to cope with” and his performance suffered, the court heard — at which point he took sick leave from some jobs while continuing to work and draw full-time salaries from the others. In one incident Organ described as “laughable,” Chowdhury allegedly wore white make-up during a video call with his boss to make himself appear ill.

After deliberating for about seven hours, jurors found Chowdhury guilty of nine counts of fraud. Between February 2020 and September 2023 he had earned almost £350,000 from eight employers, with more than £280,000 of that paid for months when he held multiple full-time jobs simultaneously. A Defra spokesperson said after the verdict: “Kashim Chowdhury abused the trust placed in him as a public servant and defrauded taxpayers out of almost £285,000. He will now rightly face the consequences for his actions,” adding that the conviction resulted from “a thorough and painstaking investigation led by the Defra counter-fraud and investigations team.”

Judge Mark Weekes remanded Chowdhury in custody on his birthday. The prosecution suggested a starting point of five years with a range between three and six. The judge told Southwark Crown Court: “It seems to me that in consequence of events over the last few weeks, unfortunately this is a defendant whose world from his point of view must appear to be collapsing around him.” The sentence he faces offers “every incentive” to fail to surrender, Weekes said, adding: “This is, I must remind myself, a defendant, even with restraint measures in place, with access to substantial funds.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The case attracted national and international coverage as an emblem of remote-work-era fraud, with wire reporting emphasizing the 183-hour contract week and the white make-up video call. Sarah Melo, a specialist prosecutor with the CPS’s serious economic organised crime and international directorate, said after the verdicts that Chowdhury had “deliberately concealed the true extent of his employment so that he could obtain and be paid for multiple full-time jobs at the same time.” “This was sustained and deliberate dishonesty,” Melo said. “He knew he could not legitimately hold multiple full-time positions at the same time but continued to conceal what he was doing.” The CPS said it would seek to reclaim his fraudulent earnings through a proceeds-of-crime hearing.

The judge accepted the defence’s submission that Chowdhury had attended court despite the pressure of press coverage, but said he had approached his case “on a somewhat unrealistic basis.” Weekes noted Chowdhury has “suffered mental health crises,” telling the court there were “substantial grounds” to believe he “may seek to harm himself or worse” given the likely immediate custodial sentence.

Current Status

Chowdhury, 56, is in custody awaiting sentencing at Southwark Crown Court after his November 2026 conviction on nine fraud counts. The prosecution will pursue the recovery of his earnings under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and the sentencing hearing will determine a term within the three-to-six-year range suggested by the prosecution. Until sentence is passed, the conviction stands but no prison term has been imposed.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A 16-year career across Whitehall and local government ended in a criminal conviction for fraud spanning eight employers, and the Defra spokesperson’s statement made explicit that the taxpayer-funded salaries he collected — nearly £285,000 by its reckoning — are now being pursued through proceeds-of-crime action. His case is now cited in coverage of how pandemic-era remote working enabled overlapping public-sector employment, and the sick-note-and-make-up details ensured the conviction followed him into custody rather than a quiet settlement.

Sources

• “Fraudster job-juggling civil servant faces jail as world ‘collapses around him’” — Stratford Herald (PA News), Nov. 9, 2026 source