A new Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Best Practice publication, Fraud Risk and Prevention, produced in association with Ernst & Young, says that corporate fraud costs businesses hundreds of millions of pounds each year and ignoring the risk is not an option. Combating fraud requires an understanding of how and why it happens and the ways in which it can be minimised.
According to the CBI, fraud and forgery offences rose by 28% in 1998/99 and 60% of UK firms suffer from fraud each year. The confederation says its new business guide will help companies understand more about the risk of fraud, recognise the warning signs, adopt appropriate pre-ventative measures and act decisively if they suspect or discover fraud.
Fraud Risk and Prevention, price £10 + £1 postage and packing (businesses ordering two copies get a third free) from CBI (www.cbi.org.uk).
Bank employee fraud
In April, bank executive James Palmer was sentenced to five years at the Old Bailey, following a £1.9m fraud on his former employer Citibank. The fraud was discovered three months after Palmer took voluntary redundancy. Although Palmer's assets were seized, the bank was left with a £300,000 shorTfall. Palmer used his position as resident vice-president to switch large sums from Friends Provident's Citibank account to his own NatWest accounts, tricking colleagues to get their counter-signatures to authorise the transfers.
