'Least Corrupt Nation' Loses $72 Million In Fraud In Six Months

New Zealand, the country perceived to have the ‘lowest rates of corruption’ has suffered more than $72 million dollars worth of fraud in the first six months of 2010, but that is only the “tip of the iceberg” says KPMG forensics expert Stephen Bell.

According to an article on Stuff:

Cash-strapped Kiwis bitten by recession have resorted to fraud and the full extent of it will not be known for years.
New Zealanders have swindled about $240.6m in large frauds since January 2008 and the average size of large frauds is now more than $2m, KPMG’s latest large-scale fraud survey shows.
KPMG forensics partner Stephen Bell said the extremely high level of fraud was not surprising given the backdrop of the recession.
“We haven’t seen the end of it. In the past 12 months there’s been about $150m in large recorded fraud. Our expectation for 2010 is that it will be a record year..

...“One of the issues is that companies either don’t find out about it or if they do, they often keep it a bit quiet because of the corporate reputational harm that’s done by admitting you’ve got a problem.“

Any business handling cash or dealing with complex financial transactions would be at risk of fraud “at some time”, but it was important to remember the vast majority of employees were honest, he said…full report here

For background reading about the lack of controls over the high levels of fraud perpetrated in New Zealand read our Wordpress blogs:

Kiwis use fraud to maintain lavish lifestyles

ACC calls in Serious Fraud Office

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