The civil servant accused of fraudulently incomes greater than £284,000 by juggling a number of public-sector jobs admitted making errors however stated ”I don’t consider there was felony intent”.
Giving proof at Southwark Crown Court docket, Kashim Chowdhury advised the jury he had made errors as a result of he was ”overwhelmed and burdened” and had felt ”terror and panic” on the considered dropping his livelihood.
He advised the jury he had been identified with post-traumatic stress dysfunction in 2015 and that it had been triggered in 2021.
The 55-year-old, who’s from east London, is on trial accused of 9 counts of fraud. He denies performing dishonestly or aspiring to make a dishonest achieve.
The prosecution alleges Chowdhury didn’t disclose to his employers that he had different full-time employment. However Chowdhury advised the jury a few of his managers knew he had different jobs.
He advised the court docket that workers and managers on the Division for Atmosphere and Rural Affairs (Defra), the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London NHS Belief and the Division for Well being and Social Care (DHSC) all knew he had jobs elsewhere.
On the top of the alleged deceit, Chowdhury held 5 full-time jobs on full-time salaries inside the public sector.
Within the spring of 2023, he was employed by the Division for Atmosphere, Meals and Rural Affairs, the UK Well being Safety Company, the Meals Requirements Company, the Division for Enterprise and Commerce and the Residence Workplace. The jury was advised that all through this era he was contracted to work 183 hours per week – greater than the variety of hours that exist in seven days.
Every job paid a full-time wage, with Chowdhury paid £11,000 for a single month’s work in 2023.
Chowdhury stated the roles had been a “lifeline” throughout a time his mom’s well being had declined.
Requested by defence barrister Pieter Briegel what extent stress in his life was because of the variety of jobs, he replied: “The roles on the time had been my lifeline on the time, that was what I survived on at that individual second.
“They usually gave me a hyperlink to the surface, they had been the one factor I needed to the surface world and had been a distraction from what was occurring in my private life, taking care of my mum at the moment,” he advised the court docket.