Zimbabwe tops in fraud – KPMG

By The NewsDay | Nov. 27, 2012 | 2 Min read

JOHANNESBURG — Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa make up 74% of all fraud cases reported in Africa, according to a report released by KPMG.

Report by The New Age

South Africa was also found to have the highest number of reported fraud cases on the African continent, with the number expected to rise due to the size of its economy

KPMG released the findings of the second Africa Fraud Barometer — which is used to measure fraud on the African continent and expose the risk of fraud for companies in their day-to-day operations — last week with very interesting results.

Although Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa were found to have the highest number of fraud cases, the research also showed that the value of fraud decreased from $3,3 billion to $2 billion and reported cases of fraud decreased from 520 in the second half of 2011 to 503 cases in the first half of 2012.

However, that could be result of fewer people coming forward to report and expose fraud.

“Fraud and misappropriation is high, as is bribery and corruption. But we believe that a lot of cases are never reported,” said William Oelofse, KPMG’s East Africa director responsible for forensic services in the report.

“People are reluctant to report fraud since they do not have faith in the system from a prosecution and conviction perspective and do not want to jeopardise their businesses and brands. But there is a lot more reporting than in the past.”