It is a double whammy for the Indian economy. Fear of fraud, corruption and bribery among senior company executives in India is on the rise with adverse effects on the already slowing economy.<br /><br />

It is a double whammy for the Indian economy. Fear of fraud, corruption and bribery among senior company executives in India is on the rise with adverse effects on the already slowing economy.

Companies are delaying their investments in the country due to such fears. This is likely to further pull the growth further down.

According to survey by corporate investigation firm Kroll, reported by the Times of India today, around 71 percent of the senior company executives surveyed in India have said that their exposure to fraud has increased. In comparison, last year the figure stood at 67 percent.

According to the report, the survey has been conducted among 901 senior executive globally. From India, there were 51 executives as respondents, the report said.

The proportion of Indian executives gripped with fear of fraud is higher than that of Brazil, Russia and China, the countries that are considered India's peers in economic growth.

As many as 69 percent of Indian executives surveyed have said junior employees perpetrate frauds and 89 percent held insiders responsible.

What is more shocking is that the number of executives who think their vulnerability to fraud is increasing is also on the rise. In this year's survey, 37 percent respondents expressed such fears as against just 32 percent last year.

The survey findings should come as a rude shock to the poll-bound United Progressive Alliance which has been trying all tricks to kick start the investment cycle to revive the sagging economy.

The Congress-led alliance has been in the eye of various scams over the last few years, including the Rs 1.8 lakh crore coal block allocation scam, which has now reached the door step of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Read the entire ToI story here.