Torsten Bell is chief executive of the Resolution Foundation. When it comes to tackling tackling fraud, perhaps deterrence is our best form of attack. And they have a wider deterrent effect: prison sentences reduce the probability that a fraudster’s colleagues will commit financial crimes. They reduce reoffending by nearly 50% in the three years after sentencing – a big deal given that reoffending rates are high. The shows that prison sentences for financial crimes work. We call financial crime white-collar crime for a reason.

One reason could be that people committing these crimes tend to be more privileged than your average criminal – they’re richer, older and better educated. Download Observer 1. Only 11% of defendants are imprisoned, half or a third of the rates for non-violent drug or property crime respectively. The authors note that culprits of financial crimes are less likely to go to prison compared with other non-violent crimes (despite the fact that fraud costs about 1.5% of GDP). This reflects the fact that bringing charges and getting convictions is hard, with complex cases often crossing borders.Īre many countries too soft when it comes to sentencing in such cases? Fascinating new research, drawing on the case of Finland, concludes yes. What would you do if your fears were hacked >observer is a cyberpunk horror game from Bloober Team, the creators of Layers of Fear. The government, which recently launched a new fraud strategy, says that for every 1,000 frauds there is one successful prosecution.

Download observer for free