Will the credit crunch create criminals?
The BDO Stoy Hayward Annual report on Fraud released recently predicts that the credit crunch will force many business people, out of sheer desperation, into fraud. Well, individuals “cooking the books” to improve results or hoodwink suppliers etc may be one outcome from the economic slowdown caused by the credit crisis, but I wonder just how many of us would be prepared to resort to crime in these circumstances? The credit crunch may well result in growing numbers of company failures, slower trade payments, reduced sales turnover………….but I’m not sure about it being ultimately responsible for filling up our overcrowded jails still further with white collar criminals.Mind you, with the police generally showing little interest in corporate fraud, maybe that will never be a issue!!