Slovak companies expect a rise in economic crime in the future, according to a global survey carried out by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PWC), the TASR newswire reported.
“Almost one-third of Slovak companies are worried about the risk of becoming victims of corruption. The reality is much worse, however,” said Ján Vylita from PWC to TASR. In addition to corruption and bribery, misappropriation of assets ranks high among possible fraud feared by 22 percent of Slovak companies. The falsification of financial results causes concern among 14 percent.
However, there is also a positive side to all the growing concerns. “Being aware of the risks is the first step to successful protection,” said Vylita.
Despite this, some 50 percent of all fraud is discovered by accident. According to the respondents, however, a number of increasingly efficient control mechanisms are available, such as internal audits, fraud risk management and automatic notifications of suspicious transactions. The survey also confirmed that companies tend to be most vulnerable to "inside jobs", as more than half of cases of fraud are committed by employees.
In more than 56 percent of cases, a member of middle or top management was involved. Vylita thinks that this fact might be attributed to greater pressure exerted on management during an economic crisis, TASR wrote on November 21. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
