Syed Rahman explains the rise in civil fraud cases

The factors behind increasing numbers of civil fraud cases coming to court were the subject of an article by Syed Rahman.

In his piece, which was published by The World Financial Review, Syed focuses on the most recent available statistics, which show a 50% rise in such cases, and analyses the reasons for the upward trend.

Syed cites the impact of Covid-19 as a major factor in the increase, with pandemic-related economic hardship leading to more fraud. The impact of fraud involving the government’s coronavirus financial support for business has also been significant, as have the opportunities for wrongdoing offered by changes to working practices that were forced on companies during the pandemic.

Syed says that rampant inflation can also be partly to blame, with fraud flourishing when the cost of living affects people’s wealth and sense of security.

According to Syed, the rise in interest rates is another factor, as it can squeeze people’s finances and lead to many resorting to fraud. Such circumstances, Syed argues, will also prompt more investment fraud. More stock market volatility can see investors losing money, which may mean some of them becoming unscrupulous when it comes to trying to regain it.

Syed believes these reasons make it unlikely that the number of civil fraud cases will decrease in the near future.

You can read Syed's article on the World Financial Review.