The firm’s fraud barometer records fraud cases of more than £100,000 and reported a total of £1.1bn alleged fraud in 2019, the sixth largest value recorded in the report’s 33-year history.

Much of this was down to a super-case which saw three men jailed for more than 12 years after police and customs officials smashed a tobacco smuggling gang.

More than 40 luxury hideaways across Europe were raided where investigators discovered gold bars, diamonds and jewellery - together with suitcases and supermarket shopping bags overflowing with cash. They were part of an international organised crime gang involved in cigarette trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering.

But the overall number of alleged fraud cases reaching UK courts fell from 453 cases in 2018 to 369 cases this year.

Roy Waligora, UK head of investigations at KPMG, said: ‘Over the last few years we have started to see a rise in the number of super-cases appearing in UK courts worth substantial amounts of money.  These are often run by well organised professional criminal gangs focused on making very large profits. 

‘Getting the large, often cross-border and complex frauds to court is both time-consuming and resource intensive. 

‘This places much more emphasis on businesses and consumers to protect themselves from a growing number of fraudsters who will take advantage given the opportunity.’

The fraud barometer recorded 102 cases of alleged insider fraud for 2019, with fraud by management and embezzlement both up. Insider fraud levels doubled in 2019 to £46m.

There was also a six-fold increase in the number of procurement frauds appearing in court, usually involving fake invoices. Six cases alone were worth over £16m in court in 2019 compared to £2.9m in 2018.

Over £192m of alleged fraud against businesses involving traditional embezzlement against employers, manipulating accounts or abuse of position appeared in UK courts in 2019 compared to £109m in 2018. Tech-enabled frauds were also prevalent and there were a number of large cross-border scams involving criminal gangs. 

Management and employees represented 43% of perpetrators by volume in 2019 compared to 39% in 2018.

Waligora said: ‘Procurement fraud is a key area that businesses need to have robust controls around. Third party due diligence as part of a rigorous procurement controls environment can help organisations effectively manage their risk. Without such due diligence and basic controls such as segregation of duties, the repercussions for a business, particularly smaller businesses, can be devastating.

‘With the economic road ahead still looking uncertain for UK businesses, many may respond by changing processes, initiating new projects and working with new suppliers, this presents a perfect ecosystem for fraud within which fraudsters will conceal, mislead and misrepresent as they exploit people’s vulnerabilities and confusion about the future.’

Government and commercial businesses remain the main victims by volume of fraud, followed by the general public. Except for commercial businesses, there was a decrease in 2019 in the volume of fraud cases.