Investors have borne the brunt of a big increase in the cost of major fraud cases, according to a report out yesterday.

Although the number of major fraud cases in the UK has fallen, the cost has risen, says the report by investigators at accountants KPMG.

There were 55 cases of fraud involving sums of more than #100,000 last year, costing a total of #120m, figures from KPMG Forensic Accounting show.

Although the number of cases was down on the 74 recorded in the previous year, the cost of the frauds jumped by 27% from #95m in 1996.

The banking and financial sector suffered the most frauds last year, with 18 cases worth more than #100,000.