Ex-councillor guilty of running sham Covid-19 lab
Four co-defendants, including former justice minister Shahid Malik, were cleared of all charges following a trial at Bradford Crown Court.
Quick Look
- Former Calderdale councillor Faisal Shoukat has been convicted of fraudulent trading and money laundering for operating a bogus Covid-19 testing laboratory in Halifax.
- Four co-defendants, including former minister Shahid Malik, were acquitted of all charges.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
RT Diagnostics was established in March 2021 to provide private Covid-19 testing services during the pandemic. The firm was based in Halifax and sourced test kits from Turkey.
A former councillor has been found guilty of running a bogus coronavirus testing laboratory during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Faisal Shoukat, who served on Calderdale Council, was convicted of causing public nuisance, fraudulent trading and money laundering after a trial at Bradford Crown Court.
Four other people on trial alongside Shoukat - former justice minister Shahid Malik, Lynn Connell, Paul Moore and Dr Alexander Zarneh - were cleared of any wrongdoing.
The verdicts were returned by His Honour Judge Chris Smith after the jury was discharged in April during their deliberations, when one member of the panel was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
RT Diagnostics was set up in March 2021 with Shoukat and Mr Malik named among the directors, after the government invited private companies to help meet the demand for testing, including so-called 'Fit-to-Fly' tests.
Prosecutors said 39-year-old Shoukat - who was a Labour councillor at the time - was the "controlling mind" of the Halifax-based firm.
However, the court heard that test kits sent out to customers - sourced from Turkey - did not meet the required standards in the UK.
It was also said the lab had returned a "suspiciously low" number of positive tests.
Between May and July 2021 it reported 138,738 tests, but only 45 of these were positive, with 123,058 showing as negative and one indeterminate.
Open Questions
- What is the sentencing date for Faisal Shoukat?
- How did the jury member's arrest affect the trial proceedings?
