The level of fraud in the UK is unclear, as some banks don’t report crooked staff to police

The full scale of fraud committed by staff at Britain’s banks is being swept under the carpet because the financial giants can simply dismiss the culprit and never tell the police, a senior detective warns today.

His comments come as a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by Money reveals the true extent of fraud over the past five years allegedly committed by staff at a bank or building society. The total lost from 39 frauds reported to seven police forces was £5.4m.

However, these figures are probably just the tip of the iceberg, because the 37 other forces in the UK said they were unable to provide the data. Banks are also under no obligation to report such fraud.

Last weekend, about 9,000 customers of