Office Crime

More than six out of 10 of people regularly commit crimes against their employers, businesses and the Government, a survey claimed today.Researchers at Keele University found that out of a poll of 1,807 people in England and Wales found 61% had committed one of a series of offences including paying "cash in hand", keeping money when given too much change, wrongly using and swapping identity cards for their own gain and stealing from work.

A large number of offenders in the poll were classed as middle class and the "respectable" by the academics.

The survey found:

• A third paid cash in hand to avoid taxation
• Just under a third kept money when given too much change
• Around one in five had taken something from work
• One in 10 avoided paying their TV licence
• One in 10 wrongly used identity cards for their own gain
• Just under one in 10 did not disclose faulty goods in second hand sales
• 7% padded an insurance claim
• 6% asked a friend in bureaucracy to bend the rules 5% claimed for refunds they knew they were not entitled to
• Of those who admitted to an offence nearly two thirds committed an
  offence on up to three occasions and 10% admitted to nine or more offences.

The survey of people aged between 25 and 65 was carried out by Professor Karstedt and Dr Stephen Farrall, and published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) at King's College, London.

The report said: "The law-abiding majority not only do not abide by the law, they also do not believe in the value of laws and rules, shrugging them off in pursuit of their interests and desires."They even regard law-abidingness as a disadvantage."

Dr Farrall said: "It is the values and the behaviour of those at the centre of society that are indicative of the moral state of our society, perhaps much more so than violent and other street crimes."