A former Labour councillor has been convicted of money laundering following his involvement in a fraudulent coronavirus testing operation during the pandemic. Faisal Shoukat, who served on Calderdale Council, was found guilty at Bradford Crown Court in a trial that concluded this week. Shoukat resigned from his council position in 2023 amid ongoing legal proceedings related to the case.

Shoukat, a pharmacist from Halifax, was tried alongside Shahid Malik, a former justice minister, who was acquitted of all charges. The prosecution presented evidence that both men had established RT Diagnostics, a company launched in March 2021 to capitalise on the UK government’s expanding test and trace programme as the third national lockdown was coming to an end.

Prosecutors described RT Diagnostics as a “cash cow,” alleging the business abused the government’s demand for PCR testing. Despite being listed as an approved PCR testing supplier, the company failed to properly process many of the more than 123,000 samples it received from May to July 2021. Of these, only 45 positive results were recorded — a notably low figure given the scale of testing at the time.

According to lead prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC, RT Diagnostics sold significantly more PCR sample collection kits than it could handle, resulting in numerous samples being discarded without analysis. Some test samples reportedly remained untested in a storage room on the premises. When customers questioned delayed or missing results, they were often falsely informed that their tests were negative despite their samples not having been processed.

Defense counsel Jonathan Laidlaw KC argued that Malik had only a limited role in the company’s operations, stating that his involvement was chiefly financial and administrative, including providing initial capital and business connections.

The court’s verdict underscores ongoing concerns about fraudulent activity during the rapid rollout of testing services in the pandemic and highlights the challenges faced by authorities in overseeing private laboratories operating under government contracts.