By Janice Kew
South Africa has been bumped off the top of the naughty list when it comes to economic crime by India and China, according to a global survey by PwC.
“China and India have emerged as economic powerhouses, but with fast-growing economies such as these being subject to concentrated attacks, the global impact is magnified,” PwC said in its Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey released on Tuesday.
At least 69% of the respondents in India had experienced fraud or an economic crime over a 24-month period, compared with 60% for China and South Africa, and a global average of 47%, the survey showed. India hadn’t featured in the top 10 before, PwC said.
While Africa’s most industrialized economy improved from 77% in the previous survey, the incidence of higher-value serious economic crime doubled to 2%. “There has also been a disturbing increase in the level of involvement of senior management as the main perpetrator, escalating from 20% in 2018 to 34% in 2020,” PwC said.