At least 301 public sector workers have been caught secretly holding multiple jobs since 2016, according to the Cabinet Office's National Fraud Initiative, after a London civil servant was convicted of fraud for working five full-time roles simultaneously.
Some £1.35 million in fraudulent salary payments was recovered over the ten-year period from staff working across different government departments. The disclosure follows the conviction of Kashim Chowdhury, 54, on Monday for nine counts of fraud.
Civil servant exploited remote working
Southwark Crown Court heard that Chowdhury exploited the shift to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic to conceal his multiple jobs, using sick notes to help manage his commitments. In one incident described by prosecutor Lucy Organ as "laughable", Chowdhury allegedly wore white make-up during a video call with his boss, seemingly to appear ill.
Between February 2020 and September 2023, he earned almost £350,000 from eight employers, including more than £280,000 in gross pay for months when he held more than one full-time job, jurors were told. The Crown Prosecution Service said it will seek to recover Chowdhury's fraudulent earnings through a proceeds of crime hearing.
National Fraud Initiative targets abuse
The National Fraud Initiative said it was working to identify more employees abusing the system after discovering 13 cases of polygamous working in the 2024 to 2025 financial year. A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "The National Fraud Initiative continues to act as a key tool in protecting the taxpayer's hard-earned cash, with a recent pilot across local boroughs making almost £490,000 of savings."
The civil service workforce has expanded significantly in recent years, growing from 382,945 full-time employees on the payroll in 2021 to more than 442,000 last year.
Chowdhury's overlapping roles
During the trial, Chowdhury told the court that work was his "lifeline". The now 56-year-old began working for Tower Hamlets Council in February 2020, before taking a second job with Defra in April 2021. The two roles overlapped for more than a year, the court heard.
For four months in 2022, he also held a third position with East London NHS Trust. After leaving the east London council, prosecutors said Chowdhury continued working for Defra while gaining further jobs with the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department for Business and Trade, the Food Standards Agency and the Home Office.
In May 2023, he was being paid for five full-time roles and at one point was contracted to work 183 hours a week – more hours than actually exist in seven days.
