Bosses
at the Metropolitan Police are trying to recruit accountants to form a squad to
crackdown on fraud in London.
The
Met is looking to recruit up to 20 accountants as special constables, to give
the force more expertise in analysing fraud and tracking money laundering.
Scotland
Yard has teamed up with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) to find
possible candidates, who will join-up as plain-clothes investigators.
Douglas
Llambias, a council member of the ICA, said the initiative would enable
accountants to give the police more hands on, forensic advice.
The
work will be voluntary and the institute said it would appeal to employees
looking to give something back to the community.
Detective
chief superintendent James Perry said the joint scheme would "greatly
assist the fight against fraud" by bolstering the Met’s specialist crime
unit with a pool of expert analysts.
“This
important scheme will not only mean that qualified accountants will be able to
form part of the teams investigating major cases, but that as special
constables they can fully participate in police interviews of suspects,” he
said.
