More than 20 cases with a value of £96 million were reported - compared to the same period during 2009, where there were 18 cases worth just £24 million. The whole of 2009 saw a total of only £77 million.
Mortgage fraud accounted for over half of all fraud committed against the financial sector in this period. One of the biggest cases was worth £50 million, involving two solicitors who were charged with commercial mortgage fraud in relation to obtaining a money transfer by deception and dishonesty, while an estate agent was jailed for six years after attempting to pull off a £2 million mortgage fraud after stealing the identities of two homeowners.
Hitesh Patel, partner, KPMG Forensic said: "The fact that increasing amounts of mortgage fraud are being prosecuted is cold comfort for the financial services industry. Clearly, more of it is coming to light and more will follow. It is highly probable that the issue is far bigger than our figures demonstrate.
"This is a legacy issue for the banks from the pre-recession boom years when house prices inflated, providing the opportunity for fraud. Banks will be hoping that they have uncovered most of their fraudulent loans. But the trend remains upwards and it could be some time before we see the peak.”
Overall, the Fraud Barometer, which considers serious cases of fraud with charges in excess of £100,000 in the UK courts, found 166 cases of serious fraud in the first half of this year - the highest number of cases in a six month period in the barometer's 22 year history.
The cases had a total value of £608.5 million - down 4.3 per cent for the same six month period in 2009 (£636.5 million). However, the 2009 figures were inflated by one case worth £200 million on its own, whereas in this period the biggest case was worth £66 million, meaning that without this outlier the average value per case has risen.
