KPMG: Fraud at record levels

Fraud cases involving sums of more than £100,000 rose to 277 in 2006, from 222 in the previous year, according to KPMG Forensics Fraud Barometer – an increase of almost 25%.

This is the highest number of cases brought to trial since KPMG started its Forensics Fraud Barometer twenty years ago.

The firm said new and more widely used technology was helping managers and teenage Internet wizards cheat the government and the companies they work for.

‘The figures produce a picture of a country where fraud is becoming worryingly deep-rooted,’ said Jeremy Outen, a partner at KPMG's forensics unit.

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