London Civil Servant Received Eight Salaries: Jury Finds Him Guilty of £284,000 Fraud

A London jury has returned a guilty verdict against 56-year-old East London resident Kashim Choudhury who, according to investigators, spent four years — from 2020 to 2023 — on the payroll of eight government departments, peaking at five of them simultaneously. The jury deliberated for seven hours and found the defendant guilty on nine counts, all relating to various forms of fraud. A specific sentence has not yet been handed down, though the judge has already stated that Choudhury faces a "very substantial" custodial sentence.

Eight Departments and Five Full-Time Roles

According to case files, the salary at each institution was relatively modest, but through "moonlighting," the prosecution calculated that the defendant fraudulently obtained more than £284,000 — over $380,000 at current exchange rates. At various times, he was listed on the staff of the Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), a local National Health Service (NHS) trust, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Business and Trade, the Home Office, the UK Health Security Agency, and the Food Standards Agency. By the end of 2022, he was employed by four departments, and by the spring of 2023, he reached a maximum of five full-time positions across different institutions.

How the Scheme Was Set Up

Choudhury first took on a second job while concealing his first in 2021: his first post was the Tower Hamlets council, and his second was Defra. At the time, COVID-19 restrictions were still periodically in place in the UK, and the defendant obtained special permission to work exclusively from home by citing the need to care for his gravely ill mother, who investigators confirmed did suffer from illness and passed away in 2023. In early 2022, he added a third job at an NHS trust, and in the second half of that year, he took on roles at three more departments.

183 Hours a Week

At his peak, Choudhury’s total workload theoretically amounted to 183 working hours a week — despite there being only 168 hours in a week. To formally manage such a schedule, investigators say he frequently called in sick. For instance, in March 2023, he was on sick leave at four places simultaneously and actually working at only one: the Home Office. Several of his direct supervisors testified in court that his work was frankly poor; notably, Defra manager Dan McCartney stated that he constantly had to prod the subordinate, and during video calls, Choudhury kept his camera turned off, claiming it was broken. Nevertheless, no formal disciplinary action was taken, and he lasted two years at that ministry.

Powder on the Forehead

The most telling episode for the court came from the UK Health Security Agency. Choudhury’s direct manager, Alisha Adams, recounted that by May 2023 her subordinate had missed three consecutive months "due to illness," and she scheduled a video meeting to draft a return-to-work plan. According to her, at the start of the conversation, Choudhury coughed frequently and looked very pale, but then began to sweat, and along with the sweat, powder began to wash off his forehead and face — which she believed he had applied to look ill. The defendant called this testimony slanderous and stated he never applied any powder. Adams shared her doubts with senior management, but it did not lead to forced dismissal — Choudhury quit the agency himself in September 2023.

Defendant’s Explanations and Exposure

In court, Choudhury explained that he took on so many jobs because, following his dismissal from the Department for Education in 2013, he was afraid of being left destitute and was constantly under stress. The prosecution countered that the defendant lied systematically, including in the courtroom. The scheme was exposed only in 2024 during a routine compliance audit conducted by government agencies twice a year, which includes cross-checking employee lists, payrolls, and other human resources documents. It was this routine procedure that revealed the exact same person was listed as a full-time employee across multiple departments simultaneously.