Business fraud increases over 40%

Analysts BDO Stoy Hayward claims that the UK saw an increase of 40% in business fraud over 2006.

According to their Fraudtrack report, key areas of fraud included “carousel” VAT frauds, and over-valuation of property for raising finance.

The survey integral to the report also suggests that only around 15% of frauds actually go detected, with larger corporations showing little willingness to chase up fraud issues when aware of them.

Key objections included the need to take such cases through the civil courts and requiring a high burden of proof - but with often little prospect of actually reclaiming fraudulently removed assets.

Criticisms are laid out at how the UK addresses fraud in the legal system, indicating that sentences are growing shorter, while also claiming that the UK is not properly funding police services that would better help bring fraud cases to court for prosecution.

Overall, while no one should underestimate the HMCE’s dedication to retrieving unpaid funds, it does paint a disturbing picture overall of how corporate business views fraud issues - and the ability for the state to support them if action is required.