South east '˜hit hard' by fraudsters

The lifeboat from Selsey positioning itself alongside the Eridan

Financial institutions across London and the south east were hit hard by fraudsters over the last 12 months with over Â£157 million being defrauded by criminals, an increase of 779 per cent on last year.

KPMG’s Fraud Barometer, which measures fraud cases with losses of £100,000 or more reaching the UK courts, shows that overall the total value of fraud prosecuted in the region in 2015 fell by 21 per cent to over £380 million but still accounted for over half of all fraud taking place in the UK.

There was a marked increase in the value of frauds being committed by managers and employees which was up by 153% on 2014 figures. In one case a mother of two from Surrey stole £1.75 million from the family business that she worked for as bookkeeper. Unbeknownst to the business when they recruited her she had previously been convicted of benefits fraud and 10 counts of fraud against a former employer.