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Annual fraud breaks the £2bn barrier and could treble soon
REPORTED fraud in the UK broke the £2bn barrier for the first time and could treble over the next two years.
New research from business advisers BDO suggests that business and public sector fraud rocketed a staggering 76 per cent last year with both the number and size of frauds increasing dramatically.
And it warns annual reported corporate fraud could reach as high as £5bn by 2012 as more deception is uncovered.
BDO says fraud will become harder to hide as companies battle against tighter cashflow and focus on reducing costs.
Last year saw the sharpest increase since reports began seven years ago, with the average value of each fraud now over £5m compared to £1.8m in 2003.