Civil servant faked illness with make-up to juggle five jobs, court hears

A civil servant is accused of earning almost £350,000 a year by juggling five full-time public sector roles - using sick notes and working from home to cope with the workload.

Kashim Chowdhury allegedly held multiple government jobs between February 2020 and September 2023.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court has been told he wore white make up during a video call with his boss to try to look ill, but the makeup began peeling off his skin.

Chowdury, a 55-year-old from east London, is on trial accused of nine counts of fraud, which he denies. He denies acting dishonestly or intending to make a dishonest gain.

The jury was told that Chowdhury got jobs by making ''false representations'' about his employment status whilst applying. Over three years he held overlapping jobs at Tower Hamlets Council in east London, the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the UK Health Security Agency and the Department of Health and Social Care.

The jury was told that in 2023 his manager at the Health Security Agency, Aleesha Adams, organised a video call with him to discuss his sick leave.

Ms Adams claims Chowdhury was wearing make-up on his face to appear ill - and that during the meeting the make up started to separate on his forehead showing his real skin underneath. At the time of the call he is alleged to have been paid for five full time jobs.

Lucy Organ, for the prosecution, told the court: "There could be no doubt about it, the defendant had applied make up to his face for this Teams meeting to try and pretend to his line manager that he was unwell.

"This almost laughable incident demonstrates, we say, quite how far the defendant was willing to go in his deceit."

Prosecutors say Chowdhury "exploited" the work from home culture that began during the Covid pandemic. The court was told that Chowdhury had told his employers that he had to work from home to care for his "unwell" mother.

But the prosecutor, Ms Organ, said his workload eventually became "too much to cope with" and his performance suffered.

The court heard that he was signed off work from some jobs due to "mixed anxiety and a depressive disorder", but he did not hand his sick note to all his employers.

Jurors heard that the alleged fraud came to light after the National Fraud Initiative alerted Defra to them.