Looking into the Gulf

The last few years have shown that the Gulf economies are not insulated from global trends. Notably, the financial crisis and its fallout have exposed fraud in the region as never before, showing it to be remarkably similar to fraud elsewhere. With several key financial hubs in the region exhibiting limited signs of recovery, a number of markets – including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates – have seen a surge of activity. How should companies based in the region and those seeking to enter it mitigate their exposure to fraud? Yaser Dajani of Kroll has some ideas.

Yaser Dajani (+971 4 4496714, ydajani@kroll.com) is an associate managing director in Kroll’s Middle East practice.

According to the Kroll Global Fraud Report [1], corruption and vendor or procurement fraud are the fastest growing types of fraudulent activity observed in the Persian Gulf. The latter affected 25% of respondents last year, up from 9% in 2010, while corruption hit 21%, also up from 9%. Whether these figures reflect a true increase or a greater recognition of these frauds by executives, companies need to deal with them. The following specific examples will provide some insight.