Fraud trial hears councillor 'just wanted to help'
BBCA former councillor accused of running a bogus coronavirus testing firm told a court he cast aside his own health concerns to help others during the pandemic.
Faisal Shoukat, who had represented the Park ward in Halifax on Calderdale Council, is accused of running a fraudulent business and public nuisance alongside co-defendants former justice minister Shahid Malik, Dewsbury East councillor Paul Moore, Dr Alexander Zarneh and Lynn Connell.
Mr Shoukat, a pharmacist from Halifax, and Mr Malik, from Burnley, are also accused of money laundering. The defendants have denied all charges.
Giving evidence in his defence earlier, Mr Shoukat said there was "much I could do" instead of self-isolating.
The 39-year-old told jurors he was classed as "vulnerable" during the pandemic because he was a Type 2 diabetic.
Despite being advised to isolate to avoid catching Covid-19, he said he continued to work running two pharmacies and volunteering as a funeral service provider for Muslim burials.
Alongside Mr Malik, in 2021, he also became a director in of RT Diagnostics, which prosecutors allege "purported to be a testing laboratory" when in reality tests were "dumped in a room" with fake negative results sent to customers.
Discussing his active role in the community during the pandemic, Mr Shoukat, who was then aged 33, told the court: "I was young, I felt fit, able and healthy. I didn't want to isolate and hide away.
"There was much I could do seeing my patients and I didn't want to hide away."
He said he had worked since the age of 16 to support his mother, a single parent, and had entered local politics in 2010 "to leave my mark and to make a difference".
He told the court he stood down as a councillor in 2023 due to the legal proceedings against him.
'Thought I would die'
Mr Shoukat contracted coronavirus in October 2020 and spent two days in hospital before self-discharging, the court heard.
He told jurors he "couldn't breathe" and "thought I was going to die" before he was taken to hospital via ambulance, but in spite of his health scare he carried on playing an active role in the Halifax community throughout the pandemic.
The court was shown evidence of numerous directorship roles and voluntary positions listed on Mr Shoukat's Register of Interests at Calderdale Council in 2021.
His representative, Abdul Iqbal KC, pointed out that the list did not include Avery Labs Limited, a company the prosecution alleged was set up with some of the £6.674m generated by RT Diagnostics in just 31 days between 16 May and 16 June 2021.
According to prosecutors, Avery Labs was formed "when things went wrong for RT Diagnostics" amid concerns over the company's practices following customer complaints.
The trial previously heard how the firm's laboratory on Lister Lane, off Francis Street in Halifax, was likened to a "building site" by medical safety inspectors, who noticed holes in the walls, rubble on the floor and evidence of people living inside the premises.
Mr Shoukat, of Savile Park, is the first defendant to take the stand and will continue giving evidence in his defence on Friday.
The trial continues.
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