Fraud in Britain at near-record levels-KPMG

LONDON Feb 2 (Reuters) - Fraud in the UK hit near-record levels last year, accounting firm KPMG [KPMG.UL] said on Monday, and with the bulk of offences committed since the credit crunch began in August 2007 not yet heard in court, the worst is yet to come.

More than 1.1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of fraud came to British courts last year, the highest amount recorded since 1995 and the second highest in the 21-year history of KPMG Forensic's Fraud Barometer, the firm said in a statement.

"These figures are bad enough in themselves, but I fear the trend for the next couple of years will be even worse," said Hitesh Patel, fraud investigation partner at KPMG Forensic.

"As the global economic downturn takes hold and organisations look ever more closely at their operations it is very likely that more fraud will come to light so that the real impact of the credit crunch on fraud is yet to be fully felt." ($1=.6989 Pound) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)