Thursday 15th January, 2015

According to KPMG’s latest Fraud Barometer, the volume of fraud cases going through British Courts has climbed in the past 12 months with fraudsters increasingly hiding behind cloaks of respectability to perpetrate their crimes.

Coming in at a total value of £717 million, the figures represent a fall of 14 percent on last year’s total. However, this good news is tempered by a 25 percent increase in the number of cases being heard by British Courts.

Some of the most notable cases revolve around conmen abusing positions of authority, making it clear that organisations need to pay attention to staff in positions of influence. The number of cases involving staff with authority over finances, for example, rose from 3 to 29 during the course of the year – with the value of their frauds jumping from £0.6 million to £11.7 million.

One notable case involved an individual who invented fake companies and imaginary staff so that he could transfer £3 million worth of false payments and wages into 20 bank accounts, to fund a gambling addiction and to send money to his fiancée in Thailand. His actions were discovered by a colleague, but rather than report the crimes, this individual demanded a cut of the stolen funds - totalling £1.1 million - to keep quiet.

Hitesh Patel, UK Forensic Partner at KPMG, says: "Collusion makes the problem of spotting and stopping fraud that much harder. Having a strong ethical culture inside an organisation is a critical defence to combating white collar crime".

Evidence suggests that people are too willing to operate on blind trust with their peers, when healthy scepticism might otherwise be financially prudent.

Data compiled for the Fraud Barometer in recent years has shown financial institutions and Government bodies to be the biggest victims of fraud. However, the data for 2014 reveals that commercial businesses are gaining prominence once again.