Met police lose two thirds of finance officers as fraud soars

Keith Ditcham, now acting director at the Royal United Services Institute, the security think tank, said the force needed to change its priorities. “Fraud is a crime that is on the rise and it would appear the resources don’t match the level of the threat,” he said.“I don’t think it’s seen as sexy and police chiefs and crime commissioners have focused their attention elsewhere, such as terrorism, counter-narcotics and county lines. But fraud accounts for one third of all reported crime — one in 10 of us is estimated to be a victim of fraud. I have made submissions to ongoing enquiries that more needs to be done to retain financial officers as at the moment they are being poached by the private sector.”