Courts in Switzerland dealt with 68 major cases of white-collar crime last year causing losses of CHF567 million ($571 million), according to a new survey by a leading consultancy firm.
That’s a 30% increase in the number of cases compared with 2020, and the total economic damage is up more than CHF200 million the consulting firm KPMG said in its latest Forensic Fraud BarometerExternal link.
The hike is also due a major case of white-collar crime last year involving a defendant who was sentenced to 45 months in prison for forgery of documents, commercial fraud and mismanagement. He caused damage of about CHF300 million.
Seven cases were related to illegally claimed credits from the government during the Covid pandemic, and the most common form of crime is social insurance fraud, the report said.
Most of the victims of fraud were public institutions.
As in previous reports, KPMG said its statistics only shows the tip of the iceberg as the number of unreported cases remains high.
The annual report is based on data from more than 5,000 reports in the Swiss media covering court cases involving fraud of more than CHF50,000.
Ukraine peace talks: 50 countries have confirmed participation
This content was published on
To date, 50 countries out 160 invited delegations have confirmed they will attend the Ukraine peace conference, held in central Switzerland in mid-June, according to Swiss public radio, RTS.
Federer-backed On boosts forecast after sneaker demand rises
This content was published on
Swiss footwear company On Holding AG posted strong first-quarter revenue, boosted by demand for its running shoes and new line of training apparel.
Michael Schumacher’s watches fetch CHF4 million at Swiss auction
This content was published on
Watches belonging to Formula 1 great Michael Schumacher sold for around CHF4 million ($4.41 million) at auction house Christie's in Geneva on Tuesday.
Macron will attend Swiss summit on Ukraine, says Zelensky
This content was published on
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the peace conference on Ukraine at the Swiss Bürgenstock resort next month, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Top politician tells ‘corrupt’ Eurovision to stay away from Bern
This content was published on
A social media post by the president of Bern’s cantonal government critical of the Eurovision Song Contest has created waves and will be discussed in the cantonal parliament.
Swiss centre records over 200 victims of human trafficking
This content was published on
Last year 317 people took part in a protection programme run by the Specialist Unit for Trafficking in Women and Women’s Migration (FIZ) in German-speaking Switzerland.
This content was published on
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and partners are opening a field hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Cost of economic crime doubled in Switzerland last year
This content was published on
The latest annual report on economic crime by KPMG found that the average amount stolen in each crime spiraled from CHF3.3 million in 2018 to CHF7.7 million last year. The number of fraud cases in excess of CHF10 million rose from four in 2018 to nine last year. There was also a 30% increase in…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.