Kashim Chowdhury denies fraud as court hears he was not thinking straight
Former civil servant Kashim Chowdhury is on trial accused of fraudulently holding up to five full-time public sector jobs at once; he denies all charges.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Kashim Chowdhury, a 55-year-old former civil servant from East London, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of fraudulently holding several full-time public sector jobs at the same time. He faces nine counts of fraud and denies acting dishonestly or intending to make a dishonest gain.
The jury has been told that between 2020 and 2023 he worked for eight public sector organisations. In spring 2023, the prosecution alleges, five of those jobs overlapped. The roles included:
- the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with an annual salary of £49,000
- the UK Health Security Agency, on £52,000
- the Food Standards Agency
- the Department for Business and Trade, where the salary was £38,000
- the Home Office
Prosecutors say that during this period he was contracted to work 183 hours a week, more than the number of hours in seven days. They also allege that he kept the overlapping jobs secret by working entirely from home and by using sick notes. The jury was told he earned almost £350,000 in total from eight employers, while the prosecution alleges he fraudulently earned more than £284,000 of taxpayers' money.
Giving evidence, Chowdhury admitted he had made mistakes in his dealings with his employers but said he did not believe there was criminal intent. He told the jury he had been feeling overwhelmed and stressed at the thought of losing his livelihood, and that he had recurring post-traumatic stress disorder. He also said that some of his line managers had known about his other jobs.
In the latest stage of the trial, the court heard that he was not thinking straight when he applied for a job at the Department for Health and Social Care and failed to declare that he was already a civil servant at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He said he had not wanted three of the jobs, that he made the applications in a flurry, and that his priority at the time had been looking after his dying mother. The trial continues.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Chowdhury faces nine counts of fraud and denies dishonesty or intent to make a dishonest gain. | |
| Chowdhury told the court he was not thinking straight when he failed to declare an existing civil service job on an application. | |
| Chowdhury told the jury that some line managers were aware of his other jobs. | |
| Kashim Chowdhury acknowledged mistakes in his dealings with employers while denying fraud. | |
| Prosecutors alleged he held five full-time public sector roles on full salary at the peak of the alleged deception in 2023. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West covered the case as a straightforward court report, leading with the scale of the alleged job overlap and the salaries involved. Its bulletins returned to the defendant's explanations, including his claim that some managers knew about other jobs and that he was not thinking straight during an application. The tone was neutral and procedural, with no wider political or policy angle.
- “some of his line managers had known about those other jobs”
- “I do not believe there was criminal intent”
- “his priority had been looking after his dying mother”
Who was on air
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- 22:19 BST
Kashim Choudry, civil servant
BBC News and Weather · Wed 21 Oct
Broadcast Timeline
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