The “alarmingly small” proportion of fraudsters being sent to prison is just the latest example of the SNP’s “soft-touch” approach to justice, the Scottish Conservatives have warned.
Scottish Government figures show that just 17 per cent of criminals convicted of fraud offences were sent to jail according to the most recent data – the joint lowest level for a decade.
Since 2020, there has been a rise in the number of recorded fraud offences in Scotland – with an average of 42 offences recorded every day in 2024.
Sharon Dowey, the shadow minister for victims and community safety, said fraudsters cause misery, particularly for vulnerable Scots, and that harsher punishments were required to act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
Scottish Conservative shadow minister for victims and community safety Sharon Dowey said: “Fraudsters prey on some of the most vulnerable in society, including the elderly, and cause misery and anxiety for their victims.
“The rise in the number of fraud offences in Scotland, coupled with the alarmingly small number of fraudsters being sent to prison, is just the latest example of the SNP’s soft-touch justice system in action.
“Whether it’s white-collar criminals targeting companies, online scams or door-to-door conmen targeting pensioners, fraudsters ruin lives. So there must be strong punishments for offenders to act as a deterrent.
“But, instead, the SNP’s lax sentencing guidelines – coupled with a shortage of prison places, due to their failure to build new prisons on time – mean that too many fraudsters are getting off far too lightly.”
Notes
Fewer fraudsters are going to jail under the SNP. Just 17% of criminals convicted of fraud went to jail in Scotland in 2022-23, the latest year we have data for. This is the joint-lowest level in a decade. In 2015-16, 30% of convicted fraudsters received a custodial sentence. (Criminal proceedings in Scotland 2022-23, Table 9b, 17 December 2024, link).
More than 15,000 crimes of fraud were recorded in Scotland last year. Police Scotland recorded 15,430 crimes of fraud in 2024, an 8% rise on the number of fraud crimes recorded in 2020. This works out at more than 42 crimes a day. (Recorded Crime in Scotland, 25 February 2025, link).
Embezzlement can be categorised as a crime of fraud according to the crime recording manual. The Scottish Crime Recording Standard notes that ‘breach of trust/embezzlement’ can be categorised as fraud for the purposes of crime statistics. (Scottish Crime Recording Standard: Crime Recording and Counting Rules, 31 October 2023, link).