The prevalence of economic crimes in Kenya has decreased with 58{d59e984f9fbc5c09e4ab0305e27bfa5819922b7230cd324f89a660f78358ca33} of respondents indicating that they have experienced some form of economic crime in the last 24months down from 75{d59e984f9fbc5c09e4ab0305e27bfa5819922b7230cd324f89a660f78358ca33} reported in 2018, but still higher than the global average of 47{d59e984f9fbc5c09e4ab0305e27bfa5819922b7230cd324f89a660f78358ca33}. This is according to the 2020 PwC Global economic crime and Fraud Survey.

The report released on today also states that the top 4 types of Economic crimes in Kenya are Bribery & Corruption, Procurement fraud, Asset misappropriation and customer fraud.

The survey which drew insights from the experiences, perceptions and knowledge of economic crime from 102 respondents, indicates that 44{d59e984f9fbc5c09e4ab0305e27bfa5819922b7230cd324f89a660f78358ca33} of companies that experienced economic crimes had 6-10 incidents reported in the last 24months.

While releasing the findings, PwC’s Eastern Africa Advisory and Forensics Services Leader Muniu Thoithi  said half of the companies surveyed reported not having a mature third-party risk management programme.

In terms of monetary cost associated with incidents of economic crime, at least a third of the Kenyan respondents that reported having experienced at least on form of economic crime in the survey period suffered losses in excess of 10 million Kenya Shillings, up from 23{d59e984f9fbc5c09e4ab0305e27bfa5819922b7230cd324f89a660f78358ca33} in the 2018 survey.