Pension scheme fraud rises 55% in a year

Almost one in five schemes say they have suffered from fraud in the past two years, representing a 55% rise compared to last year, according to research from Baker Tilly.

In the accountant's Pensions Fraud Risk Survey 2012, 14% of respondents reported fraud in their schemes in the last 12 months but more than a fifth said they had not actively considered fraud risks over the last 12 months. The percentage of trustees who have not considered fraud rose from 15% the previous year in a trend the report's author had expected to be heading in the opposite direction. Just 7.5% of respondents said they had introduced a formal fraud response policy and 35% had not tested internal fraud controls for more than a year. Fraud advisory panel chair Rosalind Wrigh...