By Jonathan Russell
A "staggering" level of business fraud has been reported in Scotland during the first half of the year.
Research by accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward has found that the number of cases which have occurred has been more than the company anticipated - even though high levels were predicted due to the recession.
In addition to banking fraud, there have been various cases of mortgage fraud, the company said.
Breaking down the figures, BDO Stoy Hayward indicated that overall business fraud grew 450 per cent year-on-year.
Whereas financial crime cost firms north of the border £1.8 million in the first half of 2008, it set them back £10 million during the same period this year.
And not all fraud gets reported, so the figure could be significantly higher.
Last month, the UK's fraud prevention service Cifas published a study, which suggested that the two largest fraud threats facing businesses during the recession are facility takeover and online fraud.
