The demise of the Celtic Tiger has been blamed for a sharp rise in white collar crime convictions last year. Commercial fraud rose to an unprecedented €34 million in value from €6 million in 2001, with the economic downturn identified as a major factor, according to analysts KPMG.

The high conviction rate indicated corporate crime has proliferated in tandem with the uncertainties gripping the economy, said Mr Ray Jackson, partner in KPMG's forensic fraud division.

"For individuals who have become used to a certain lifestyle or who have taken on high levels of debt in the expectation of an increasing income, there is motive to supplement their income through theft or to secure their job or bonus through accounts manipulation," he said.

The figures do not include judgments sought by the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Garda division charged with tracking the proceeds of organised crime.

But they are distorted by a relatively small number of major rulings in favour of the State, including a €15 million duty evasion penalty levied against Londoner Mr Robert Tibbs, detained attempting to smuggle 70 million cigarettes into the Republic.

The total number of frauds exceeding €50,000 actually fell to 16 from 17 in 2001, although the size of individual embezzlements was much larger. Smaller investors emerge as fraudsters' victims of choice, Mr Jackson said. The most high-profile embezzlement noted by KMPG was conducted by an elderly Cork couple who defrauded investors of €1.3 million over 10 years.