Management at heart of fraud rise
The value of commercial fraud has doubled from £82.2m in 2000 to £162.2m in 2001 with management twice as likely to commit fraud as employees, new research has revealed.
Commercial fraud cases rose to 29 last year from 17 in 2000, according to the latest figures from KPMG’s Forensic Fraud Barometer.
The research looked at major fraud cases heard in the UK with charges over £100,000 in the Crown Court.
David Alexander, fraud investigation partner at KPMG Forensic, said: ‘The two biggest frauds which occurred during 2001, for £69m and £47m, were both commercial and both involved management.’
Alexander said the rise was indicative of the recessionary environment. ‘When profits start to decrease, long-term frauds are more likely to come to light,’ he added.