Fraud at all time high says report
A NEW report has revealed that fraud cost Yorkshire businesses more than £13m last year.
The finding of the KPMG Forensic’s Fraud Barometer for the first six months of 2008 showed that bank fraud is at an all time high with mortgage fraud beginning to impact the market.
The findings also revealed that fraud in Yorkshire totalled £13.6m for the period – with fourteen cases of large scale (£100,000+) fraud reaching the region’s Crown courts, valued at £13,586,000 – double the £6.6m value of fraud in the previous six months.
Banks have been the main targets of a major spike in fraud coming to court – with more than £630m of fraud came to court across 128 cases, substantially up from £421m across 91 cases in the previous six month period, and of that more than half (£350m) was against the financial sector.
Nationally, at £350m, fraud against banks totalled more in six months than in any previous entire year of the 20 year history of KPMG’s Fraud Barometer.
Previously the highest level of fraud against the financial sector was £200m in 1998.
KPMG has warned that the figures are likely to get worse as the full impact of the credit crunch unfolds.
Cases in this region included a 17 strong group, including bank employees who stole £4.8m over 18 months from banks, in a fraud involving hundreds of cheques and stolen IT equipment, and two brothers from Leeds who defrauded the taxpayer of benefits valued at £225,000.
Vivien Osborne, forensic director at KPMG in Yorkshire, said: “Fraud remains extremely prevalent in the UK with professional gangs accounting for over two-thirds by value, ranging from investment stings to trading scams, card fraud and money laundering. Banks are working extremely hard to protect themselves and their customers from fraudulent activity, but the signs are that organised criminals and syndicates have been relentless in their efforts. Mortgage fraud cases have started to come through in the courts too – and it seems likely that there will be many more to come. “
