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Source: ONE News -
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Fraud is a widespread and serious problem for New Zealand businesses, and it is increasingly being committed by middle and senior management, according to a survey.
New Zealand was ranked eighth highest for rate of fraud out of
the 54 countries surveyed in the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers
Global Economic Crime Survey.
Russia had the highest incidence of reported fraud and Japan the
lowest. Australia was ranked ninth.
In the last 12 months, 42% of New Zealand respondents were the victims of fraud compared to a global average of 30%.
There was an alarming shift in the profile of the internal fraudster in New Zealand.
In 2007, 75% of fraud was carried out by junior staff. In 2009, that figure had dropped by almost 20%.
Business fraud committed by middle and senior management increased by almost 20% over the past year.
"This shift is a cause for concern, as senior staff have the ability to override internal controls and can potentially cause greater financial loss to organisations," Eric Lucas, a forensic services partner, said.
Theft, the most common form of fraud, was cited by 86% of New Zealand respondents. This was followed by financial statement fraud, cited by 36%, and intellectual property theft at 17%.
In 72% of all cases the fraud was committed by someone inside the organisation.
One New Zealand organisation reported that its fraud losses were in excess of $7 million over the last 12 months.
