Fraud regulations not fit for purpose, says fraud watchdog

Posted by PM | on Mon, 20/09/2010 - 14:04 2682 3 comments

Corporate fraud reporting requirements are confusing and lack a common thread, according to a new report published by independent fraud watchdog, the Fraud Advisory Panel (FAP).

The report calls on government and the business community to develop a more consistent approach to help reduce corporate fraud which is estimated to cost the UK economy £30bn a year.

Continued...

The non enforcedment af Corporate Identity theft

danielgricks | Wed, 22/09/2010 - 13:57 | Permalink

In 2008 I discovered that a potential client company had had its registered office moved illegally. The company had traded for some years and had an established VAT registration.

The company's owner investigated further and discovered that at the 'new registered office' a number of other companies were registered. He also discovered the names and addresses of individuals who had changed the directorships to themselves. A clear case of corporate identity theft.

He took the information to his local police. They took no action and I am advised that they are not required to do so. What is the use of security regulation and laws if the police don’t take action to enforce them and if not the police, who should we accountants report such misdemeanours ?Daniel GricksUpminster Accountants

grass roots

tomriv801 | Wed, 22/09/2010 - 18:10 | Permalink

having suffered fraud on myself, the procedures and all are just about non-existent as far as police and all are concerned. with luck, you may persuade hm customs to investigate a vat fraud. virtually no luck in getting the police to investigate obvious fraud, they are persuaded to look after on street policing. the threshold for auditing companies gets higher and higher so eliminating detection and non-executive shareholder knowledge (who often have abilities to offer in the running of the company)

SOOO - the non-executive shareholder, such as myself has to scurry around trying to find out what the company is doing after being supplied with as good as meaningless accounts. try to gets to grips with legal issues and then employ a lawyer to consult and most probably act on my behalf.

honest joe in his place in a corrupt world.

Build knowledge

michaelreddy | Thu, 23/09/2010 - 17:03 | Permalink

Great post and I totally agree. Things need to change where corporate fraud is concerned. I definitely think that one big aspect is training and learning around fraud and what to look out for. Considering that most corporate fraud is detected through organisations employees I would say that most workforces are not clued up on what signs to look out for. By increasing knowledge around detection of corporate fraud and key signs to look out for, the frequency of cases could be significantly reduced.