By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
TOTAL financial crimes reported to the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) fell to their lowest level for five years in 2022 with a near-30 percent decline compared to 2021.
Data unveiled on Friday by Clayton Fernander, the police commissioner, as part of his annual crime briefing showed some 538 commercial-related crimes were investigated last year compared to 759 in 2021. This represented the sharpest year-over-year drop in reported financial crimes since 2018.
The commissioner did not speak to financial/commercial crimes during his media briefing. However, the data showed the steepest fall was in reported incidents of “fraud by false pretences”, which dropped by 109 or almost 35 percent year-over-year, from 313 to 204 in 2022.
Other areas where reported offences fell were “possession of forged documents”, which dropped more than five-fold to 18 in 2022 from 97 the year before; “stealing by reason of employment”, which declined by 30 percent to 56 from 80; and “stealing by reason of service”, which narrowed from 148 incidents in 2021 to 130 last year.
Areas of increase were “possession of forged currency”, which rose from 64 to 82 in 2022, and “proceeds of crime” complaints, which grew from eight to 14. No explanation was provided for the increase/decrease in the various categories of reported crimes, although it could simply be that fewer such episodes were brought to the police force’s attention.
Some 800 financial/ commercial crimes were reported to the police in 2019, representing the highest figure in the past five years, with 2022’s 538 some one-third or 33 percent below that peak. No incidents of alleged bribery were reported last year, compared to just two in 2021, and forgery allegations dropped from 25 to 15 - a fall of some 40 per cent. However, extortion incidents reported to the police increased from eight in 2021 to ten last year.
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