摘要：Commercial crimes have an impact on profit margins with dire consequences for the national economy. According to the Nedcor project (1996), the financial loss caused by commercial crime committed in 1995 was R2 640 000 000 (ñ USD440 000 000) and it is estimated that more than R12 billion a year escapes government coffers. In the first three months of 1997, a total of 14 024 cases involving R709 450 207 (USD118 241 701) were reported to the Commercial Crime Unit of the South African Police Services' compared to15 345 cases reported between January and March 1998, involving R993 635 638 (USD165 605 939). An increase of 9,4 percent has been observed (SAPS Quarterly Report 2/98:27,28). A total number of 59 515 cases, involving an estimated potential loss of R4 609 041 739, were reported in 1998 - an increase of 16,4 percent since 1995 when 51 117 cases were reported. The monetary value of the estimated potential losses increased over the same period with R1 810 806 338 - an increase of 39,3 percent, indicating that economic offenders became more adventurous in selecting high profit targets (SAPS Semester Report 1/99).
