KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer on the biggest economic offenders
The latest KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer once again reveals the biggest economic crimes. In 2018, 50 major economic crimes in Switzerland caused a total loss of around CHF 166 million.
This KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer takes a detailed look at the economic crimes committed in Switzerland in 2018. In the process, 50 cases with a minimum offence amount of CHF 50,000 were dealt with in Swiss courts. Compared to the previous year, the total loss decreased by around 61%. In 2017, this still amounted to CHF 426 million. The number of offences dealt with by the courts also fell noticeably compared to the previous year, from 59 to 50 cases (-13.6%).
However, this decline does not allow any firm conclusion to be drawn about a general decrease in white-collar crime in Switzerland. KPMG's statistics only cover court cases that have been publicly heard and published in the media. Experience shows that the majority of crimes are not even reported. Consequently, a significant number of unreported cases can be assumed.
Commercial fraudsters on the rise
While in 2017 the most frequent economic offences were still attributable to the management of the companies and organisations concerned, in 2018 most offences were committed by commercial fraudsters (15 cases). In terms of the volume of damage, however, management and/ or employees represented the largest group of perpetrators with a total of over CHF 82 million. Thus, the greatest damage was caused by internal perpetrators.
Investors suffered the most significant losses
Cooperatives, aid organisations or clubs and associations suffered the greatest damage from economic crime in 2018, being defrauded of a total of CHF 50 million in 24 cases. Investors are also frequently targeted by economic criminals. The loss for this group of victims amounted to CHF 47.7 million. In a further three legally valid cases, financial institutions suffered total losses of CHF 15.2 million.
Northeastern Switzerland with many white-collar crimes
Most white-collar offences were tried in the Zurich region and in north-eastern Switzerland: In the Zurich region, the total volume of damages in a total of 18 legally valid cases amounted to CHF 25.7 million, in northeastern Switzerland in 15 cases even to more than CHF 57 million. The three cases heard by the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona involved total damages of CHF 48.8 million.
Two examples of economic crime
One employee, in his capacity as project manager, awarded bogus contracts to companies he knew for over ten years. In this way, the perpetrators made several million, which they shared.
In another case, an industrial entrepreneur had embezzled donations amounting to the equivalent of CHF 4.39 million through his former company, which had actually been intended for aid organizations.
The KPMG Forensic Fraud Methodology
Every year, the "KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer" records the court cases that are publicly heard and published in the media. For this purpose, over 3,000 relevant newspaper articles from various Swiss newspapers from 2018 were collected and analyzed. In the current "KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer", only articles were taken into account that reported on first-instance convictions of offences over CHF 50,000 in connection with white-collar crime in Swiss courts.
