Frauds deprive 10 pct of Czech, Slovak firms of over EUR1m
23.01.2012Company: ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
Prague - About one tenth of Czech and Slovak companies sustained damage caused by frauds worth over EUR1m (about Kc26m) over the past two years, according to a survey carried out by Surveilligence and TPA Horwath in cooperation with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
About one half of respondents in both countries have met with some kind of fraud. Most frequently, companies lost a sum below EUR50,000 (Kc1.25m) due to a fraud.
Most firms failed to recover the lost money back due to a lack of evidence. One fifth of Czech firms managed to get more than a half of the lost money back, while not a single Slovak firm achieved this.
A total of 7 percent of firms in the Czech Republic and 11 percent of firms in Slovakia registered damage exceeding EUR1m.
The most frequent frauds both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia include embezzlement, bribery, conflict of interest and manipulated tender procedure.
Most frauds are committed in companies´ sales departments, the most frequent offenders being ordinary employees.
The poll has been carried out among 125 companies, of which 81 were based in the Czech Republic and 44 in Slovakia.
Surveilligence is a forensic agency operating in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
TPA Horwath is a unit of the global network Crowe Horwath International, which ranks among the top ten audit, tax and consulting companies in the world.
