'I wasn't thinking straight' says five jobs civil servant

A civil servant accused of fraudulently juggling multiple public sector jobs has told the court he "wasn't thinking straight" when he allegedly misled future bosses about his employment status.

Kashim Chowdhury said he was "in a panic" when he applied for a job at the Department of Health (DHSC), failing to declare he was already working at the Department for the Environment (Defra).

The prosecution said he already had three full-time jobs at the time, including roles at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and East London NHS Trust.

The 55-year-old, who is from east London, is on trial accused of nine counts of fraud. He denies acting dishonestly or intending to make a dishonest gain.

Chowdhury said he was "in a panic'' because he feared losing his Defra job and was uncertain about his future. He told the jury he was "not paying attention, I was not thinking straight',' when filling out the application.

The prosecution said Chowdhury held five jobs on full-time salaries at the height of the alleged deceit.

In the spring of 2023, he was employed by the Defra, the UK Health Security Agency, the Food Standards Agency, the Department for Business and Trade and the Home Office.

The jury was told that throughout this period he was contracted to work 183 hours a week - more than the number of hours that exist in seven days. Each job paid a full-time wage, with Chowdhury paid £11,000 for a single month's work in 2023.

Prosecutors say Chowdhury "exploited" the work-from-home culture which began during the Covid-19 pandemic to hide his multiple jobs and took sick leave from some employers to manage the workload.

But Chowdhury told the court he had not wanted the jobs at the DHSC, Department for Business and Trade and the Home Office.

He told the jury: ''I sent out a flurry of these applications. The offers for these jobs came all at once. I had discussions with my line managers saying that I did not want these jobs and explained my circumstances. These were all short term and probationary and my priority was to look after my mother.''

He added that around May and June 2022, his mother's health "deteriorated".

He said: "That overwhelmed me at the time. It just destroyed me."

Chowdhury described the jobs as his "lifeline at the time".

"They gave me a link to the outside world and were a distraction from what was going on in my personal life, looking after my mum at that time."

The prosecution alleges Chowdhury managed to keep his overlapping jobs secret because he worked entirely remotely. He told his employers he was the sole carer for his elderly mother and the prosecution alleges he "exploited this opportunity".

The trial continues.