Birmingham fraud busters on the trail of crooks
THE manager of an ex-catalogue sales warehouse has ripped off his bosses to the tune of nearly half a million pounds, it has been claimed.
The cheeky boss allegedly set up his own company and used the staff he was supposed to be supervising to sell his on employer’s goods.
But the warehouse company soon got suspicious about their losses and hired a team of Birmingham fraud-busters from Expert Investigations to examine their business.
According to the agency, staffed by former police detectives, many Midland companies are being taken to the cleaners by their own employees as the recession continues to bite.
They claim workers are exploiting cutbacks in security to run lucrative scams costing their bosses millions of pounds a year.
Armed with hidden cameras and skilled in covert surveillance techniques, the company recently investigated a theft of over £100,000 which implicated employees and wholesalers.
Managing director David Kearns said: “Every downturn brings about a rise in fraud levels, but what we are seeing in 2009 is the impact of one of the worst UK recessions in living memory.
“Businesses are experiencing far greater vulnerability due to a financially-forced decrease in internal controls, job cuts, pay cuts and reduced profitability.
“This all comes at a time when the rapid rate of technological advances is forcing companies to operate in a far more competitive and fast-moving environment,” he added.
“In short, the motives and opportunities for fraud have increased significantly.
“Last month, we successfully investigated a theft of over £100,000 which implicated employees and wholesalers.
“At present, we are involved with a fraud case which has cost one business over £400,000.
“The manager of this national depot chain over-ordered products, set up his own company and used his depot staff to sell on the stock for his own gain.
“It’s not just single individuals who lie at the root of such activity.
“The cost to the business can be incalculable.””
The claims of Expert Investigations are backed up by KPMG’s Fraud Barometer, which shows that UK fraud levels hit a record high in the first half of 2009.
More than 160 cases involving sums in excess of £100,000 passed through the courts nationally between January and June.
The total value of cases was £636 million and, if replicated in the second half of 2009, would lead to the highest value of fraud ever recorded by the index.
