EX-LABOUR MINISTER SHAHID MALIK CHARGED OVER COVID TESTING KITS

Shahid Malik, 56, is facing a crown court criminal trial after lying to government

A former Labour justice minister has been charged over an alleged Covid-19 fraud involving the testing company he led.

Shahid Malik, 56, is one of five people accused of fraudulently running the testing firm RT Diagnostics by lying to UK authorities to be approved for Covid testing, providing testing kits that breached regulations and giving ‘fake’ test results to consumers.

Malik, a former Dewsbury Labour MP and minister in Gordon Brown’s government, was Chairman of the lab testing company when it was founded during the pandemic in March 2021.

He is now facing a crown court criminal trial after West Yorkshire Trading Standards charged him, four colleagues and the company over Covid testing.

Dewsbury-based RT Diagnostics has been charged with 11 offences, including engaging in an ‘aggressive’ trading practice.

The company allegedly called a consumer late in the evening and stated ‘they would receive a refund if they removed any negative posts online first.’

It allegedly misled the public by claiming that all test results would be sent to consumers within 24 hours and failed to establish that its Covid-19 testing kits complied with safety regulations.

Malik of Burnley, Lancashire, has been charged with causing a public nuisance. He is said to have provided a testing service for Covid-19 ‘using premises and a laboratory that were inadequate’ and by ‘telling lies’ to begin approved testing.

He faces a second charge of carrying on business with intent to defraud creditors. Details of the offence state RT Diagnostics used a laboratory that was inadequate for Covid testing, a process not approved for Covid testing and providing test kits that did not comply with regulations.

A third offence was that he concealed, disguised, converted, transferred or removed criminal property. This charge was brought under the Proceeds of Crime Act and relates to revenue from the allegedly fraudulent business.

Faisal Shoukat, 37, of Halifax, West Yorkshire, a director of the company and Labour councillor, has been charged with the same three offences.

Lynn Connell, 62, of Ripponden, West Yorkshire, Paul Moore, 54, of Burnley, and Alexander Zarneh, 69, of Halifax, have been charged with causing a public nuisance and carrying on a business with intent to defraud creditors.

The offences faced by the five relate to the period between March and September 2021.

Connell, Shoukat and Zarneh pleaded not guilty to the charges when they appeared before Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court last week. Malik and Moore gave no indication of plea.

The case will come before the judge at Bradford Crown Court next month.

RT Diagnostics was one of hundreds of firms that won government approval to sell PCR tests to international travellers during the pandemic.

2024-04-29T15:20:50Z dg43tfdfdgfd