Management fraud can be a major problem

There were 17 cases involving sums of more than �100,000, compared to 10 cases in the previous year, KPMG Forensic said.

Despite the increase, the total amount of money involved fell from more than �21m in 2002 to �7.2m.

The rise formed part of a UK-wide increase from 83 cases in 2002 to 153, involving a total of more than �374m.

Many of these frauds are being committed through organised crime or by the company's management leaving businesses vulnerable to attack Robin Crawford KPMG Forensic

KPMG Forensic said that throughout the 1990s the annual number of major frauds in Scotland remained in single figures.

Robin Crawford, head of KPMG Forensic in Scotland, said: "Scottish companies are being attacked both internally and externally due to lack of, or inadequate, fraud risk strategies, whistle-blowing policies, or internal processes to combat the problem.

"Even worse, many of these frauds are being committed through organised crime or by the company's management leaving businesses vulnerable to attack."

Mr Crawford said management fraud "costs four times as much" as fraud perpetrated by employees.

"Not only is this an unnecessary cost to the business, but increasingly bodies such as the Financial Services Authority are taking a closer look at how firms are managing their exposure to fraud and dishonesty," said Mr Crawford.