One in five fraud cases is in the Midlands
THE Midlands has more reported cases of fraud than any other region outside London, racking up £250m in the last 12 months and representing a four-fold increase in just two years, according to accountancy firm BDO.
The firm’s Fraud Track research, published today, examines all reported fraud over £50,000, and shows the cost of fraud in the North West at £33.5m for the last 12 months while the Yorkshire figure was just £17m. The Midlands figure represents almost 20% of the UK’s total.
The total number of cases in the region was 66, with the largest reported fraud involving a criminal gang that set up a factory capable of making up to 625m counterfeit cigarettes and 5m pouches of fake hand rolling tobacco a year, with a potential annual loss to HMRC of £150m.
Other reported fraud in the last 12 months included a £10m mortgage fraud, an £8m conspiracy to defraud major music companies by a Wolverhampton man, and a gang who stole £1.5m of railway track. In addition, a Solihull man was jailed for 17 years, the longest sentence ever issued in Britain for fraud, after being found guilty of conning the Treasury out of £34m in PAYE.
Sat Plaha, forensic partner at BDO in Birmingham, said: “What’s really worrying is that the vast majority of both public and private sector fraud is still not reported, with business owners not wanting to involve the police in such matters unless absolutely necessary. With that in mind, the true cost to the Midlands is likely to be even higher than £250m.”
Across the UK, the value of total reported fraud in 2012 has fallen by a third to £1.37bn. However, tax fraud, totalling £603m alone, has doubled in the last two years, and comprised almost 75% of reported fraud in the Midlands.
