Plugging Leaks

May 23, 2012 (LBO) -- Fraudulent practices across business activities has risen over the past two-years in Sri Lanka, with billions of rupees lost each year to economic crime, a new study showed. Awareness of fraud is always the first step towards managing the issue. It’s the first step towards beginning a new era of responsibility in Sri Lankan society, said Mihular, a 25-year-old industry veteran.

The survey, which was the first in Sri Lanka, was based on a questionnaire sent out to 400 public and private sector organisations. KPMG targeted organisations whose annual turnover ranged between 50 million to 10 billion rupees and had staff strength between 100-5,000.

The survey attracted 90 respondents, representing 102 industry segments. Their responses were classified into agriculture, consumer markets, financial services, NGO, information, communication and entertainment, industrial and other areas.

Some 70 percent of respondents admitted to having encountered fraud in their organisations, said Jagath Perera, who heads KPMG Sri Lanka’s Risk Consultancy unit.

Firms reported fraudulent activities through:
- whistle blowing hotlines (nine-percent),
- internal and sta