A civil servant jailed on his birthday for fraud allegedly stabbed his mother with scissors years before bullying her into signing over the family home, a court heard.
uncertain
court → jail → home
Kashim Chowdhury, who turned 56 today, looked utterly crestfallen as he was remanded into custody after jurors found him guilty of nine counts of fraud worth more than £280,000.
asserted
him → turn → fraud
Chowdhury took overlapping government jobs with the likes of Defra and the Home Office during a three-year period, holding down as many as five in one go, and squirrelling away his savings.
asserted
Chowdhury → take → savings
The court heard Chowdhury exploited the post-Covid culture to work from his £2million home in east London where he cared for his sick mother.
asserted
he → hear → mother
That six-bedroom property, just off fashionable Brick Lane, is currently the subject of a legal dispute involving Chowdhury's three older siblings – although jurors were not told of this.
asserted
jurors → involve → this
It can now be reported that Chowdhury's older brothers Abdul and Anis Chowdhury, and sister Fowzia Hussain, believe he coerced their terminally ill mother into signing documents related to the home's ownership.
asserted
he → report → ownership
They said a Declaration of Trust, Deed of Gift and Land Registry transfer document were all 'the product of undue influence' by Chowdhury amid concerns he would be left with nothing when their mother Faijun Nessa died in July 2023.
asserted
mother → say → July
And the court reportedly heard Chowdhury stabbed his mother with a pair of scissors in the 1980s.
uncertain
Chowdhury → hear → 1980s
Kashim Chowdhury was convicted of fraud at Southwark Crown Court today - his 56th birthday
Chowdhury said he was his mother's sole carer, and that she made the decision to sign over the house of her own free will after taking legal advice.
The dispute was heard at the High Court, with Chowdhury giving evidence part-way through his criminal trial for fraud, which was being held concurrently at Southwark Crown Court, roughly a mile away.
asserted
which → convict → Court
The extraordinary situation meant High Court judge Amanda Hardy KC was forced to put reporting restrictions on the civil dispute banning journalists from publishing proceedings until his fraud trial concluded, as all of his siblings lined up to point the finger at Chowdhury and accuse him of dishonesty.
asserted
all → mean → dishonesty
Chowdhury told the court his mother, who was illiterate in both English and her native Bengali, initiated the drawing up of the various documents, solicited her own legal advice, and kept him completely out of the loop throughout regarding the details and her intentions.
asserted
who → tell → details
He said he simply wanted a place to live.
asserted
he → say → place
He also said his mother made her intentions known to her wide circle of friends, yet was not able to explain why none of them nor any solicitors were called to back up his version of events.
asserted
none → say → events
Barrister Aidan Briggs, for the claimants, said: 'I am going to suggest … your mother was simply doing what you told her to do.
asserted
you → say → her
You coerced your mother into signing these documents.
asserted
You → coerce → documents
Chowdhury replied: 'If there was any coercion my mother would have told lots of people.
asserted
mother → reply → people
And there is no evidence she ever said "Kashim was coercing me".
asserted
Kashim → be → me
Chowdhury was also locked in a High Court battle with his siblings over the family home
As the sibling row deepened, Chowdhury told the judge: 'She (mother) wanted to make sure I was safeguarded.
asserted
I → lock → judge
Any stress was entirely caused by my siblings in this matter - they descended on this property for one reason, it was greed, and my mother knew that.
asserted
mother → cause → that
'My mum was an intelligent woman, she said she experienced things like this and wanted my future safeguarded.
asserted
future → say → this
'All I said was I wanted a roof over my head, and that my siblings wanted proceeds out of this.
asserted
siblings → say → this
I never wanted a single penny.'
asserted
I → want → penny
The court heard devout Muslim Mrs Nessa previously wanted her home divided according to the principles of Sharia law, with male heirs receiving twice that of female counterparts.
uncertain
heirs → hear → counterparts
The judge will return her conclusion at a later date.
asserted
judge → return → date
Meanwhile, Chowdhury will spend his first night in prison tonight after he was convicted of fraud.
asserted
he → spend → fraud
The court heard he took sick days and holidays in an attempt to manage his workload and keep the ruse going, allegedly applying make-up to appear ill on a video call with bosses, although his performance was generally regarded to be poor.
uncertain
performance → hear → bosses
Chowdhury, who was often handed senior project manager roles with salaries of up to £52,000, said he was suffering poor mental health and was coping with his terminally ill mother's care.
asserted
he → hand → care
He denied trying to deceive employers, claiming evidence proving his innocence was lost by investigators.
But he was convicted of nine counts of fraud after prosecutors said he 'positively lied about his employment history and having other full-time jobs'.
asserted
he → deny → jobs
He looked straight ahead as the unanimous verdicts were returned.
asserted
verdicts → look → ?
His Honour Judge Mark Weekes remanded Chowdhury into immediate custody and said: 'This is a defendant whose world, from his point of view, must appear to be collapsing around him.'
asserted
world → remand → him
The judge said Chowdhury approached the case 'on a somewhat unrealistic basis' as jurors took seven hours to unanimously convict him of all counts.
asserted
jurors → say → counts
Chowdhury, whose identity was first revealed by the Mail in April last year, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in January.
asserted
identity → reveal → January
The Government said it 'will continue to use all available avenues to recover the proceeds of Chowdhury's offending on behalf of taxpayers'.
asserted
it → say → taxpayers
The Aporia
