Factors such as new investors and expansion into overseas markets have opened the door to different varieties of fraud, and four out of five companies worldwide have been hit by some form of corporate fraud in the last three years, according to a survey by risk consultancy Kroll.

On average, large companies — with annual revenues of over $5bn — each lost more than $20m to fraud over this period, and about one in ten lost over $100m. Particularly widespread is theft of physical assets or stock: this was experienced by 34% of those surveyed. However, around one-fifth of companies were victims of: information theft, self-dealing, financial mismanagement, internal financial fraud, procurement fraud, or corruption and bribery.

The extent of corruption and bribery was found to vary from one region to another: the largest proportion of companies (39%) suffered from it in the Middle East and Africa. More than twice as many Eastern European respondents (29%) experienced bribery and corruption problems as those from Western Europe (14%).

Andrés Antonius, president of Kroll’s consulting services group, said: “The risks of fraud for business are greater today than in the past. Even the whiff of a fraud may sometimes be sufficient to place a company under severe scrutiny or in financial distress”.