In the midst of the global economic downturn of the past year, several significant economic crimes have come to light, with large-scale Ponzi schemes in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta under investigation, and alleged financial fraud in the government sector.

From an economic crime perspective, victim organizations said both internal and external fraudsters were the perpetrators, and theft of tangible assets was the most common type of fraud committed, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Investigations & Forensic Services' Global Economic Crime Survey 2009.

The report also said that 56 percent of Canadian companies surveyed reported being victims of economic crime during the previous 12 months, an increase of 10 percent from the 2003 survey results.

Approximately one quarter of Canadian companies that were victims of fraud within the past year estimated their direct fraud-related losses to be greater than $500,000.

Asset misappropriation or the theft of tangible assets that have a defined value was reportedby 83 percent of Canadian companies surveyed that were victims of economic crime in the past 12 months. This is notably higher than the global survey result of 67%.

Check back to ILSTV tomorrow to find out more about this study, including who is behind most of these crimes.