And the winner is… Staff Fraud!

Thank goodness Kate Winslet kept it together and didn’t blubber too much at the Academy Awards. Also loved Sean Penn’s delightfully self-deprecating ‘I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me’ line in accepting his gong for Milk. I so know the feeling – especially after board meetings.

Having had my annual Oscar celeb fix and finding myself in need of something to put me to sleep on Sunday night, I opened the February edition of Spectrum, the monthly newsletter of CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service.

It appears there’s a new ‘star’ in the fraud firmament – internal staff fraud. Of those cases finding their way to court in the UK last year, KPMG reports that fraud committed by company managers now stands at £128 million (up from £54 million in 2007), while employee efforts totalled a rather disgraceful £100 million (way up on ‘07’s £27 million). Blessed be the dishonest consumer, however – their take in 2008 came to a comparatively modest £65 million – a mere £40 million increase on their 2007 haul.

Very alarming, no? I realise times are tough, but dishonesty is surely never the best policy for anyone.

So thanks for an interesting read, CIFAS. Not sure my missus would approve, but maybe I should take Peter Hurst and Co. to bed more often.