Financial controls aiding fraudsters
Survey finds convicted scammers never fear audit procedures
Up to £72bn could be lost to fraud in the UK every year due to poor financial
controls at companies, a new study has found.
Research undertaken by risk consultants Protiviti, which undertook interviews
with convicted fraudsters, found that many companies were leaving themselves
severely exposed to risk through weak controls and inefficient audit procedures.
The interviews uncovered that many fraudsters were actually aided by poor
financial and regulatory systems, few were worried that the companies audit
procedures would uncover their scams, and many considered being caught just bad
luck.
A study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners also found that only
half of the country’s top 350 companies were taking extra anti-fraud measures,
and that £72bn could be lost to fraud every year, greatly higher than government
estimates of £14bn, according to the Financial Times.