The director is hereby authorized, and may in his or her discretion, recover the reasonable cost of legal services and audit fees for services provided by in-house attorneys and/or other personnel of the department of labor and training or outside auditors and incurred by the department in matters pertaining to fraud investigations and examinations. Nothing in this section shall limit the power of the director to retain legal counsel to recover the costs of such legal counsel and auditors pursuant to other provisions of the general laws.