301 public sector employees identified for secretly holding multiple jobs since 2016

The Cabinet Office says at least 301 public sector employees have been identified as secretly holding multiple jobs since 2016, with £1.35 million in salary payments recovered. The findings have renewed questions about employment checks and oversight after civil servant Kashim Chowdhury was convicted of fraud for concealing simultaneous public sector roles.

Chowdhury, 56, was paid for five full-time jobs at the same time at the peak in May 2023, amounting to 183 contracted hours a week. He was convicted of nine fraud counts after taking roles at government departments and public bodies while concealing his other employment; he will be sentenced later. The National Fraud Initiative identified 13 cases in 2024–25, while the Civil Service workforce exceeded 442,000 last year, up from 316,790 in 2016.