Wales saw the number of fraud cases taken to court fall by nearly half last year, but the number of cases against financial institutions increased.

There were 17 cases of fraud across the region in 2019, totalling £17.4m, compared to 30, totalling £18.7m, the previous year. The number of cases against financial institutions, however, rose from one to three, totalling £1.6m in value.

There was a significant drop in the number of fraud cases against commercial businesses in 2019, just three compared to nine in 2018. However, the value of these frauds increased from £4.9m to £6.3m.

There was also a significant drop in professional criminal perpetrators last year, down to seven cases from 13 in 2018; however they were still the most prevalent perpetrators in Wales in 2019, with a case value of £8.4m.

Damian Byrne, forensic lead for KPMG in Wales, commented:

“Whilst government organisations and commercial businesses have clearly taken steps to combat fraud threats, it’s concerning to see an increase in cases against financial institutions and hopefully this is not a trend we see continue in 2020.

“Generally speaking, the total number of fraud cases falling means people and businesses are putting more measures in place to counter common threats, but high-value cases are still coming to court and the risk of fraud will always exist.”

Case studies to reach the region’s courts during this period include:

• A 41-year-old man from Gwynedd has admitted to conspiring to launder £5.8m. In a joint investigation by the Welsh Police and the FBI, it is understood he targeted a UK and US-based company via an email fraud to obtain the funds. He has also pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud involving vehicle hire purchase agreements.
• A 70-year-old Grosmont man bought a £1m farm in Carmarthenshire using forged bank statements and letters, initially telling the bank his wife and daughter planned to run a horse business from the property.
• A Pembrokeshire solicitor, 58, was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay back almost £200,000 from his ill-gotten gains after stealing £1,000,000 from families of dead clients through charging hugely inflated fees.