Ex-councillor guilty of running sham Covid-19 lab

Former Calderdale councillor Faisal Shoukat has been found guilty of running a fraudulent coronavirus‑testing operation during the Covid‑19 pandemic. Shoukat, who served on Calderdale Council, was convicted of causing a public nuisance, fraudulent trading and money laundering after a trial at Bradford Crown Court. Four co‑defendants – former justice minister Shahid Malik, Lynn Connell, Paul Moore and Dr Alexander Zarneh – were cleared of any wrongdoing. The verdicts were delivered by His Honour Judge Chris Smith after the jury was discharged in April, while deliberations were under way and one juror had been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. In his remarks, Judge Smith condemned a catalogue of “systemic failures” at the business, for which Shoukat bore day‑to‑day responsibility. He told the court: “The overriding thought at the time was simply to make money.” He added: “Put simply, profit was put ahead of professionalism and public safety.” RT Diagnostics was established in March 2021 with Shoukat and Malik listed as directors, following a government invitation for private firms to help meet testing demand, including alleged “Fit‑to‑Fly” services. Prosecutors described the 39‑year‑old Shoukat – a Labour councillor at the time – as the “controlling mind” of the Halifax‑based company. Evidence showed that test kits supplied to customers, sourced from Turkey, did not satisfy UK standards. The laboratory returned a “suspiciously low” number of positive results. Between May and July 2021 it reported 138,738 tests, of which only 45 were positive, 123,058 negative and one indeterminate. A video released by The Sun in July that year alleged tests were being dumped in a side room and depicted the Park Works facility in poor condition, with litter on the floor, an exposed ceiling and bin bags stacked outside. Medical safety inspectors described the Lister Lane site as a “building site” and noted evidence of people living there. Judge Smith criticised the firm’s “cavalier” and “careless” approach to the accreditation process required for testing, highlighting further “systemic failures” in its organisation and service delivery. He said customers faced a “multitude of problems”, ranging from kits arriving in unsealed boxes to results never being issued. He characterised the investigative and reporting systems at RT Diagnostics as “profoundly flawed” and said there was evidence that some samples “had simply not been tested”. One individual told the court that he and his wife had initially tested positive for the virus, only to receive an email from RT Diagnostics stating they were negative. Although the firm traded for only about two months, roughly 80 % of its 1,218 Trustpilot reviews were one‑star ratings. Shoukat, a pharmacist, testified that he received approximately £1.5 million in shares from the company. Malik, who wept after being acquitted, was also said to have received a comparable sum as a co‑director, though he was not involved in daily operations and lived outside the UK for part of the company’s brief existence. Malik, 58, of Colne Road, Burnley, was found not guilty of causing a public nuisance, fraudulent trading and money laundering. Connell, 65, of Wagon Farm, Ripponden; Moore, 57, of Plober Street, Burnley; and Dr Zarneh, 71, of Wood Lane, Halifax, were each cleared of causing a public nuisance and fraudulent trading. Read the full story at BBC News →