Levels of fraud 'reach new high'

Donald Mackenzie was responsible for Scotland's biggest single fraud

Fraud in Scotland has reached record levels, figures have shown.

Accountants KPMG said the value of frauds committed between January and June had topped £47m, almost double the total for the whole of 2005.

It is the highest level in 19 years and has been increased by major cases such as that of an Edinburgh bank manager convicted of a £21m loans scam in June.

Donald Mackenzie was jailed for 10 years after he swindled the money from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Twelve major fraud cases went to court between January and June, compared with 15 in the whole of last year.

Fraudsters are characterised by greed, determination and ingenuity Ken Milliken KPMG

Ken Milliken, head of KPMG Scotland's forensic team, said: "Alarmingly, there was more than twice the level of fraud committed in the last six months than we saw throughout the whole of the 2005, although we can take some comfort from the fact that more cases are being successfully brought to court."

The KPMG "fraud barometer" records cases of more than £100,000 being heard in UK courts.

A total of £653m has come under prosecution since January, with Scotland outdone only by the London area for large-scale frauds.

The research found that managers were the biggest perpetrators.

Insider fraud

Cases included a Perthshire hotel manager who was convicted in March of stealing more than £200,000 from his employees by writing himself cheques.

Insider fraud within banks accounted for a large proportion of the record fraud figures.

The biggest victims were investors, followed by the government, which lost out through tax evasion, VAT and benefit fraud.

Mr Milliken said: "Fraudsters are characterised by greed, determination and ingenuity.

"It is not easy to stop them which is why companies need to keep on reviewing and refining their systems of controls.

"As individuals we all need to take care in making sure that we know who we are dealing with when asked for personal information and data."

He added that the true cost of fraud was "borne by us all".