A civil servant is accused of earning almost £350,000 by secretly juggling five full time public sector jobs, allegedly using sick notes and working from home to manage his workload.

Kashim Chowdhury, 55, from east London, is standing trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of nine counts of fraud relating to jobs he allegedly held between February 2020 and September 2023. He denies all charges, as well as acting dishonestly or intending to make a dishonest gain.

The jury heard that Chowdhury allegedly secured overlapping roles by making false representations about his employment status when applying for jobs.

Over three years, he is alleged to have worked simultaneously for Tower Hamlets Council, the Home Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the UK Health Security Agency and the Department of Health and Social Care.

One of the most unusual allegations concerns a video call in 2023 with his manager at the UK Health Security Agency, Aleesha Adams, who had arranged the meeting to discuss his sick leave.

The court was told that Chowdhury allegedly applied white make up to his face to make himself appear ill. During the Microsoft Teams call, the make up reportedly began peeling away on his forehead, exposing the skin underneath.

At the time, he was allegedly being paid for five full time positions.

Prosecutor Lucy Organ told the court: “There could be no doubt about it, the defendant had applied make-up to his face for this Teams meeting to try and pretend to his line manager that he was unwell.”

She added that the incident demonstrated how far the prosecution believed Chowdhury was willing to go in his alleged deception.

Prosecutors claim he exploited the working from home arrangements that became widespread during the Covid pandemic. The jury heard that he had told employers he needed to work remotely to care for his unwell mother.

However, the prosecution alleges that the combined workload eventually became too much to manage and that his work performance began to suffer.

The court also heard that Chowdhury had been signed off work from some of his positions with mixed anxiety and a depressive disorder, but allegedly did not provide the same sick note to all his employers.

The alleged fraud was uncovered after the National Fraud Initiative flagged concerns to Defra.

Chowdhury denies the allegations and the trial is ongoing. The charges remain allegations, and the jury will determine whether the prosecution has proved its case.

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