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The fraudster paid £350,000 to do FIVE jobs across the Civil Service… and no one noticed because he was working from home (at his £2.1million east London house!)
Kashim Chowdhury was found guilty of nine fraud offences after holding overlapping jobs across several government departments and collecting multiple salaries for more than three and a half years. The case matters because he was able to keep the roles despite poor performance and apparently routine employment details, raising questions about how departments checked staff and coordinated payroll.
Chowdhury, 56, held eight overlapping Civil Service posts and at one point had five jobs, with a combined workload of 183 contracted hours a week. He received £349,378.81, while managers described his work as exceptionally poor, passive or ineffective; the article says no official explanation was available for how the arrangement continued.
In short
- Chowdhury was convicted of nine fraud offences.
- He held eight overlapping Civil Service jobs.
- He was paid nearly £350,000 over more than three years.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The case supports calls for stronger checks across departments: overlapping posts and multiple salaries went undetected for years, suggesting that employment and payroll systems did not adequately identify conflicts or verify workloads. Better coordination could protect public funds and help ensure that civil servants can meet the duties they are paid to perform.
The case against
A single case does not by itself establish that broad new controls are justified; departments should first identify the specific checks and coordination failures that allowed this arrangement to persist. Safeguards should be proportionate, preserving fair treatment and privacy for staff while targeting fraud and avoiding burdensome monitoring of legitimate flexible or remote working.
Explained simply
The Civil Service is made up of government departments that deliver public services and support ministers. Staff are usually hired by individual departments, which manage their roles and pay.
Kashim Chowdhury held several Civil Service posts at the same time, including five concurrently at one point, and received separate salaries. The case raises questions about how departments checked staff workloads and employment details, and whether they shared information about overlapping roles.
It also draws attention to how concerns about an employee’s performance were handled while he remained in post. The case may prompt scrutiny of recruitment, payroll and management checks across government departments.