Partner Article

Fraudsters put £18m dent in North East economy

NEW figures show there was £18m worth of large scale fraud in the North East in the first half of the year while nationally mortgage fraud has quadrupled in the same period.

KPMG’s Fraud Barometer shows a significant decrease in fraud in the region compared to last year’s H1 total of £85m - although 2009 figures were skewed by the £80m PPP property investment fraud.

Nationally the total stands at £608.5m compared to £636.5m during the same time last year.

Among the corporate crimes that have happened in the North East this year and reached court is a £100,000 fraud by an accounts employee against her employer to fund her gambling.

Another £500,000 mortgage fraud saw a woman buy four properties after falsely completing application forms.

Meanwhile an independent financial adviser from the region defrauded his elderly clients out of a total of £100,000 in a case involving forgeries.

Overall, the Fraud Barometer, which considers serious cases of fraud with charges in excess of £100,000 in the UK courts, found 166 cases of serious fraud in the first half of this year – the highest number of cases in a six-month period in the Barometer’s 22 year history.

The report also uncovers a national surge in mortgage fraud with 21 cases with a value of £96m being reported in the first half of this year – compared to the same period during 2009, where there were 18 cases worth just £24m.

Indeed, the whole of 2009 saw a total of only £77m.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .