Fraud a UK Growth Industry, “Getting Worse” – KPMG
We noted towards the end of last year that forensic accounting was booming, well this is why…
One of the few industries showing any growth in the last year has been fraud. Those lucky forensic guys must feel like kings of the roost right now.
According to the annual report buy the National Fraud Authority, fraud costs the UK £30bn every year – more than double previous estimates.
And get this, a massive 58 per cent of fraud was in the public sector, at a cost of £17bn. (City AM) That’s whole rainforests worth of brown envelopes.
According to KPMG Forensic’s Fraud Barometer, London and the South East remains the fraud hotspot of the UK, accounting for almost £820m of the fraud that came to court in the past year. (KPMG’s Barometer only considers major fraud cases being heard in the UK’s Crown Courts, where charges are in excess of £100,000).
Hitesh Patel, partner at KPMG Forensic, said: “Britain appears to have a rising fraud problem, as is evident by looking at the steady increase through the last ten years. The last decade, I am afraid, could certainly be dubbed the ‘naughty Noughties’. The credit crunch will undoubtedly make the situation worse, and we are yet to see the full impact of it. The forecast therefore is: getting worse.
