JOHANNESBURG. — Economic crime remains a major problem and many billions are lost by both the private sector and government through theft and fraud every year‚ experts say. CEO of EMPS the oldest background screening company in SA‚ Kirsten Halcrow‚ said although the latest crime statistics released by the South African Police Services (SAPS) showed a decrease in commercial crime it was common knowledge that many corporates did not report cases of internal fraud and theft for fear of damaging the company’s reputation.

Financial Executive of Business Against Crime‚ a public private partnership that supports both the private sector and government in the fight against crime‚ Denise Kisten‚ said in the retail environment‚ the majority of crime was committed by employees that had access to business information.

She said the majority of fraudsters were only identified after the appointment of the employee. “It is my suggestion and recommendation that a comprehensive background check which includes a criminal record check be conducted on all potential employees.

“A potential employee who has been unemployed for a period of time is likely to have a tarnished credit record. By means of a background check possible fraud could be mitigated.” She stressed that all offenders should be criminally charged and arrested in an effort to minimise business fraud within the country.

“With regards to the reputational damage that may or may not be caused as a result of the criminal case I believe there could be more serious repercussions when affiliated businesses/partners become aware that employees that committed fraud were merely dismissed. This will undoubtedly question the integrity of the business‚” she said.

In a fraud survey conducted by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers‚ it was found that South African companies experienced more fraud and bribery than their counterparts elsewhere in the world. They were being hit by a higher incidence in every category of economic crime except intellectual property infringement and mortgage fraud‚ it said in its Global Economic Crime Survey 2014.

Bribery and corruption had been the fastest growing economic crime category in South Africa since 2011. The survey found senior management was the main perpetrator of economic crimes committed in the country. “Our survey results indicate that the typical internal fraudster is male‚ aged between 31 and 40‚ has worked for his employer for more than 10 years‚ and has acquired a first university degree‚” it said.

“This profile is consistent with South African organisations reporting that senior and middle management commit 77 percent of all internal fraud.” Halcrow said 2015 was proving to be a record year for credentials cheats with criminal record checks for prospective employees now topping 12 percent — up from 11 percent last year.

She said 38 percent of the candidates who tested positive for a criminal record were repeat offenders‚ with some job applicants having up to 20 convictions. “We have reached the point where there is no place to hide for criminals and qualifications fraudsters to enter the job market because screening procedure have become so sophisticated over the past years that is has become almost impossible to beat the system.”

Recent statistics show that 65 percent of the job applicants who tested positive for criminal records committed offences in the past ten years. Halcrow said the bottom line was that companies who did not check the veracity of documents tendered by job applicants were setting themselves up for a fall. — Timeslive.

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