ROBUST PROCESSES NEEDED TO PREVENT EMPLOYEE FRAUD
Released On 20th May 2024
According to a recent survey by Cifas there has been a marked increase in new recruits committing dishonest conduct against their employers.
The Cifas Insider Threat Database (ITD) for dishonest conduct against their employer found that 38 per cent of those reported have been in their position less than a year – up from 21 per cent in 2022.
This behaviour has been attributed to the current economic climate and more hybrid working, meaning that it is harder for employers to supervise their employees.
This could also be the reason 17 per cent of employees reported in the ITD had been in post for more than 10 years.
Compared to 2022, submissions to the ITD saw a 14 per cent increase last year. Almost half of these cases (49 percent) involved dishonest actions by employees, with numerous organisations attributing this surge to escalating financial pressures.
There are many ways that employees can steal from their employers, ranging from ‘straightforward’ theft from employer or customer accounts to selling personal data to organised crime gangs or doing a second job to the detriment of the first.
Commenting on the statistics, Roger Isaacs, Forensic Partner at Milsted Langdon, said that these statistics should be viewed with caution because only a very small number of employee frauds are ever reported.
“Many employers fear reputational damage, and this can sometime mean that perpetrators remain unpunished,” said Roger. “Even if frauds are reported to the police, it is relatively rare for a prosecution to follow.
“For that reason, that has been an increase in the number of private prosecutions, but these can be expensive and time consuming for prosecuting employers who more often than not consider that spending more money to achieve justice without the prospect of a financial recovery may not be a good use of their resources.
“That said, in the right circumstances a strong private prosecution case backed by robust forensic accountancy evidence, can result in a financial recovery for the employer as well as a public demonstration that it will not tolerate dishonesty from its staff.”
Sources: Recruiter Magazine
