Morning:
8°c
Fraud has shot up to its highest in 21 years, with more than half of the UK's cases taking place in the South-East of England, according to research published today.
Individuals and businesses across Britain fell victim to more than 160 cases of serious fraud worth £636 million in the first six months of this year.
The figures, from KPMG's fraud barometer, reveal that professional gangs, mainly targeting investors, carried out 70 cases worth £450 million. The data are, however, swollen by the largest single case, an attempted £200 million plan to fraudulently sell London's Ritz hotel.
A further high-profile incident involved the Candy brothers, who were conned out of £6.5 million by four pensioners. The quartet had pretended to own a 47–acre Berkshire estate which was owned by billionaire Saudi Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz.
The Government was a major victim, suffering £150 million of fraud, mainly in tax evasion and phoney benefit claims, while a quarter of cases were against banks and other financial institutions. They were hit for £111 million.
Experts are predicting the worst is yet to come.
