A British civil servant accused of fraudulently earning more than £284,000 by holding multiple public-sector jobs simultaneously has admitted making mistakes but denied acting with criminal intent.
Kashim Chowdhury, 55, told Southwark Crown Court that he had been overwhelmed by stress and feared losing his livelihood. He is facing nine counts of fraud, all of which he denies, maintaining that he neither acted dishonestly nor intended to make an unlawful financial gain.
Giving evidence to the jury, Chowdhury said he had experienced significant personal difficulties and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2015, which he said was triggered again in 2021.
The east London resident explained that his jobs had become a lifeline during a period when his mother’s health deteriorated, providing financial support and a connection to the outside world.
Five Full-Time Jobs Held Simultaneously
Prosecutors allege that Chowdhury concealed his overlapping employment arrangements from his employers, allowing him to collect multiple full-time salaries without disclosing his other positions.
At the height of the alleged fraud in spring 2023, he was employed by five government bodies: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the UK Health Security Agency, the Food Standards Agency, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Home Office.
The court heard that his combined contractual working hours amounted to 183 hours a week, exceeding the total number of hours in a seven-day period.
Chowdhury reportedly received £11,000 for a single month of work in 2023, while his annual salaries across different positions ranged from £38,158 to £52,606.
The prosecution alleges that he managed to maintain the overlapping roles because he worked entirely remotely. Prosecutors also claim he told employers that he was the sole carer for his elderly mother and exploited the arrangement to conceal his multiple jobs.
However, Chowdhury disputed the allegation that his employment arrangements were delibera
