Is it a welfare state gone mad? As a London jury hears the case, the more useful lesson for HR may be how the alleged scheme came to light
For more than three years, prosecutors say, a London civil servant moved from one government payroll to the next without ever leaving the last. At one point, jurors heard, his contracts added up to 183 hours a week. A week has 168.
What eventually exposed it, the court was told, was not a suspicious boss or a string of missed deadlines. It was a government program that cross-checks public-sector payrolls.
Kashim Chowdhury, 55, of Whitechapel in east London, went on trial at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday. He denies nine counts of fraud and denies acting dishonestly or intending to make a dishonest gain, the BBC reported. The trial continues, and none of the allegations has been proven.
Prosecutors say that between February 2020 and September 2023 he earned almost 350,000 from eight public employers. Those named in court include Tower Hamlets Council, a local government body in east London; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra); the Department of Health and Social Care; the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); the Department for Business and Trade; the Food Standards Agency; the Home Office; and an NHS trust in east London. By May 2023, prosecutors say, he was being paid for five full-time jobs simultaneously.
According to the prosecution, he misrepresented his existing employment when...
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