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- 36% of Kenyan experienced economic crimes lost over Ksh 10million
- 2% reported losing in excess of KShs 500 million
The value of economic crime reported by Kenya’s public and private sectors exceeds 10 million shillings in the last two years according to a PwC Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey report.
Economic crimes in Kenya remain prevalent with 58 percent of the 102 surveyed respondents saying they experienced such crimes. However, this is higher than the global average of 47 percent which also saw a reduction from 2018 where the rates reported were 49 percent.
In the report, bribery and corruption and procurement fraud were the most prevalent as well as the most costly and disruptive types of economic crimes experienced by organizations in Kenya.
Reported incidences of bribery and corruption rose from 30percent in 2018 to 42 Percent while the reported incidence of procurement frauds rose from 34 percent in 2018 to 39 percent in 2020.
“This is an indication that fraudsters are getting bolder and economic crime is getting costlier,” according to the report released on Wednesday.
“Economic crimes are of interest to all of us, as they have ana impact on business and the lives of citizens either directly or indirectly,” said Peter Ngahu, PwC’s Regional Senior Partner in Eastern Africa.
“It is clear from this report that economic crime continues to be a concern for organizations of all sizes, across all regions and in virtually every sector.”
In Kenya, the report draws insights from the experiences, perceptions, and knowledge of economic crime from 102 respondents.
21 percent represented listed companies, 35 percent private organizations, 19 percent Government, 15 percent Nongovernmental organizations and 4percent from the private equity funds.
The study says most perpetrators of economic crimes in the last 24 months were internal actors at 36 per cent with external actors accounting for 27 per cent of the reported cases.
“We noted that one in three respondents reported being victims of collusion between the internal and external actors. It goes against what our respondents reported globally where external fraudsters were the main perpetrators of fraud,” said PWC advisory and forensics leader, Eastern Africa Muniu Thoithi.
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The report revealed that despite the rise, 70 percent of the respondents in Kenya said they have invested in programmes aimed at curbing bribery and corruption.
“The deliberate investments in antibribery programmes may be paying off given the ability of organisations to detect and report this vice. This may have contributed to the reported increase in incidences of bribery and corruption,” he said.
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