Pictured above: Joint heads of Challinors Fraud & Asset recovery Department Arun Chauhan (left) and Mark Kenkre will look at ways of prosecuting culprits of insider fraud at the firm's next Breakfast Briefing event

More than forty-eight percent of UK employees admit to contemplating fraud at work, contributing to one of the country's fastest-growing fraudulent activities that last year was estimated to cost the UK in the region of £250,000 a day.

In the second of its 'Insider' fraud seminars, fraud and asset recovery lawyers at Midlands law firm Challinors alongside guest speaker Mohammed Zaman, QC from St Philips Chambers in Birmingham, will help local businesses get to grips with the ever-increasing issue of employee fraud and consider ways of identifying and prosecuting culprits to recover misappropriated assets.

Arun Chauhan, partner and joint head of Challinors' Fraud & Asset Recovery department, explains: "Estimates of the cost of employee insider fraud are increasing day-by-day, but it is almost impossible to quantify, as many employers are reluctant to disclose figures for fear of the potential effect on their business. Reliable statistics on the true scale of the problem can only be determined following the reporting of successful prosecutions. In this second session in our mini series of breakfast briefings dedicated to insider fraud, we put under the spotlight, the legal process and what it can do to attempt to recover losses for a business."

Mark Kenkre, the department's joint head, adds: "Informed opinion suggests that almost a quarter of a million SME's in the country have already fallen victim to insider fraud, and very often organised crime is becoming involved in this escalating problem. The recession has played a part in the significant rise of detected insider fraud, which can take a number of forms, from falsifying invoices, redirection of computer fund transactions, procurement collusion, to company credit card misuse and false expense claims. 

"This briefing will expand upon the case studies investigated at our November seminar, review the methods employees are using to illegally acquire monies and assets from their employer, and what the legal process can do for a business once fraud has been established, to assist in and maximise recovery."

Challinors' Fraud & Asset Recovery Department's 'Insider' Fraud Breakfast Briefing event takes place at Hotel du Vin, Birmingham, on Thursday 4th February 2010, with.