High-value fraud cases are halved

Cash lost to high level frauds in Scotland has halved in a year, according to forensic accounting research.

Money lost to alleged fraud in cases worth £100,000 or more has fallen from £3.8 million in the first half of 2017 to £1.8m in the first six months of this year, finance firm KPMG found.

However, the number of these cases reaching court in Scotland remains unchanged between the two periods, at nine.

Whilehighvaluefraudlosses have fallen overall, embezzlement cases have increased in both value and volume, as staff stole money from employers.

Embezzlement was the main source of alleged fraud in Scotland accounting for £1.1m of total value lost, and five cases in the first half of 2018, compared to two in the same period the previous year.

Those sentenced at courts in Scotland for high-value frauds so far this year include finance clerk Robert Crawford, 72, from Broxburn, who embezzled £600,000 from Scottish Widows. He was jailed for two years for the 14-year scheme involving targeting unclaimed policies and moving funds into his own bank account.