PTI in Business Standard, 21 June 2011
New Delhi- Fraudsters go undetected for a longer duration in Asia, with a survey revealing that frauds in the region sometimes do not come into the light for ten years or more. In Asia, it takes longer to detect frauds than any other region in the world, says a global consultancy KPMG report, released today. “The duration of fraud prior to detection in Asia is an average of five years, with 16% of frauds going undetected for 10 years or more, compared to 4.2 years in North America and 3.7 years in Western Europe,” it said.
In India, a whopping 88% of frauds are not communicated while enforcement action is initiated in one-quarter of cases and disciplinary action is taken in 25% of investigated cases, according to the KPMG report.
The findings are based on research of 348 actual fraud investigations carried out by KPMG in 69 countries and many of the cases have never been made public.
“The 2011 survey data reveals a slight decrease in the internal disclosure of fraud, down from half of all cases in 2007 to 46%.
“Full disclosure of details fell from 35% in 2007 to 13% in 2011. India [88% of frauds not communicated] and Eastern Europe [72%] have least propensity to reveal details of fraud, while the most transparent countries are South Africa, Australia and New Zealand,” it noted.
Corporate fraudsters are typically male in the age group of 36-45 years and often commit fraud against their own employer.
“Additionally, the typical fraudster will work in the finance-function or a finance related-role [32%], often for more than 10 years [33%] and usually in a senior management role or board role [in aggregate 53%],” the report said.
Company board members and those working within the chief executive or managing director’s offices are increasingly committing more fraud.
According to KPMG, company board members and those working within the chief executive or managing director’s offices are increasingly committing more fraud.
KPMG’s Executive Director (Forensic Services) Rohit Mahajan said that when frauds blow up, it is typically several years down the line, when the value of the deception has multiplied and all the warning signs have been missed.
