Member Article

North West tops regional fraud levels

The value and volume of fraud is higher in the North West than any other region, according to BDO LLP’s Fraud Track research.

The accountancy and business advisory firm’s 2014 analysis, which examines all reported fraud over £50,000, saw the North West amass £50 million worth of fraud, making it the most costly region outside of London and the South East.

While the number of cases has risen dramatically from 47 to 72 in the past 12 months, the combined value is largely unchanged from £49 million last year, indicating that 2014 was characterised by an increase in unsophisticated fraudulent activity that was low in value but high in volume.

Some of the North West’s largest cases included an £8 million construction industry swindle involving four fraudsters from Greater Manchester; a £6.8 million mortgage scam by a property tycoon nicknamed ‘Mr Fastcash’, and a professional gambler in Cheshire and a solicitor from Burnley accused of stealing £1.1 million in credit balances.

Manchester once again has the region’s worst fraud record, accounting for almost half of all reported cases in the North West.

Tax fraud proved the region’s biggest downfall, accounting for £29 million of the North West’s total.

Public administration and finance & insurance are the sectors being hit the hardest by fraudulent activity, with £29.6 million and £15.6 million respectively.

Forensic partner at BDO LLP in Manchester, Brent Wilkinson, said: “One of the reasons we are seeing stagnant values despite the volume of cases increasing is due to a growing trend of high value complex fraud being dealt with outside the judicial system, and out of the public eye.

“Companies are increasingly assessing the reputational cost of a public case to their business, with many preferring to deal with perpetrators through civil – not criminal -remedies.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .