New findings show that major commercial fraud cases in Yorkshire soared during the first half of the year, compared with the same period of 2012.

According to accountancy firm KPMG’s latest Fraud Barometer, Yorkshire’s crown courts dealt with 14 cases involving fraud of £100,000 or more in the first half of 2013, totalling £13.8 million. The number of cases was two-thirds higher than the same period of 2012.

Nationally, fraud cases totalling more than £516 million were recorded in the period, up over a third on the previous year’s £374 million, with the average value of cases jumping from £2.8 million to £3.5 million. Fraud committed against investors also saw a huge increase in 2013, with frauds totalling £74 million.

Regional cases included a North Yorkshire-based oil trader who was jailed for defrauding investors of £1.3 million after fabricating statements when his fund began losing money, and a bank call centre employee who diverted £250,000 of a customer’s mortgage advance into the account of an accomplice.

Vivien Osborne, forensic director at KPMG’s West Yorkshire office, said: “While the back end of last year saw a resurgence of traditional con-artistry, this year has seen fraud cases turn a darker corner with professional criminals acting across borders, defrauding largely governments and financial institutions.

“The increase in the corruption of supply chains by fraudsters has been marked. In one particularly shocking case, a company sold fake bomb detectors to Iraqi authorities, at a financial cost of £55 million, but the real damage was human injury and suffering.

“The risk to safety and therefore life through supply chain fraud can have serious operational and reputational consequences which often get overlooked as a result of financial impact being a primary focus."

She welcomed Government proposals to fight white collar crime with a more severe punishment regime in the sentencing guidelines consultation paper issued recently.