Faisal Shoukat, a former councillor and pharmacist from Halifax, has strongly criticised the evidence presented against him in a high-profile fraud and money laundering trial. Shoukat and several co-defendants are accused of running a fraudulent coronavirus testing business, RT Diagnostics, and causing a public nuisance by allegedly providing fake negative test results. Prosecutors claim large sums of money were transferred into accounts linked to Shoukat and former justice minister Shahid Malik, but Shoukat insists the business was legitimate and that the prosecution's portrayal is unfair and dishonest. He also defended the use of Turkish-supplied test kits and explained the creation of a second company for banking purposes, while admitting there were some issues in the business relationship. The trial continues, with Shoukat being the first defendant to give evidence in his defence.