Councillor accused over 'fraudulent' Covid-19 testing firm

FORMER MP ALSO ON TRIAL OVER BUSINESS SAID TO HAVE MADE £6.67M IN THREE WEEKS ON 'INADEQUATE AND NON-COMPLIANT' PRODUCTS

- By KATIE DICKINSON, PA AND SOPHIE CORCORAN

A KIRKLEES councillor and a former Labour minister are among the people accused of running a fraudulent Covid-19 testing firm, a court has heard.

Shahid Malik and Paul Moore are two of five people on trial over the “inadequate and non-compliant” RT Diagnostics, which prosecutors say made £6.67m in three weeks but did not meet UK standards.

Malik, 57, who became the MP for Dewsbury in 2005 and served as a justice minister and communities minister before losing his seat in 2010, is accused of fraudulent trading, causing a public nuisance and money laundering.

Faisal Shoukat, 37, is charged with the same three offences. Lynn Connell, 64, Moore, 56 - who was elected to serve the Dewsbury East ward in the 2023 local elections - and Alexander Zarneh, 70, are accused of fraudulent trading and causing a public nuisance.

Yesterday, a trial at Bradford Crown Court heard Shoukat was a pharmacist who ran a chain of pharmacies and that he and Malik shared mutual contacts in Turkey where they sourced “non-compliant” components used in the PCR test kits they sent to customers.