Is freight exchange fraud an addition to vehicle crime? We will come to our conclusion by looking back on the obtained knowledge in each of the previous chapters. Liberalisation of EU freight transport lead to the opportunity for the freight exchange to enhance efficiency but also came along with a new form of crime, freight exchange fraud. The freight exchange and freight exchange fraud were examined based on conversations with experts and inspection of police reports. This research resulted in the following definition of freight exchange fraud: Freight exchange fraud is the deliberate misuse of the freight exchange with the aim to steal cargo to fund other activities of the criminal organization. According to our definition, the target of freight exchange fraud is cargo. Based on the definition, freight exchange fraud does not seem an addition to vehicle crime but an innovation in vehicle crime. Cargo criminals seem to have enlarged their scope by involving the freight exchange as addition source of knowledge. The different working methods of freight exchange fraud – false document companies, company take-overs and infiltrators – seem to be complex, but lucrative, ways to prepare cargo thefts. We have performed a variety of correlation analyses. The first two analyses revealed that the components of vehicle crime – cargo theft, vehicle theft and combination theft – significantly depend on each other. In addition to significant between-variable correlation, also significant, at the 1% significance level, within-variable correlation with all three lags is found for each of the vehicle crime variables. The significant within-variable correlation seems to suggest that actors are the same within a specific component of vehicle crime or that the circumstances did not change and that the criminals keep on performing a certain crime. The significant between-variable correlation might on the one hand plea for the same actors and on the other hand for different actors. From this result we might be able to conclude, although with great reluctance, that when actors are different, freight exchange fraud is expected to be an addition to vehicle crime. When the actors are the same, this would indicate that freight exchange fraud is perceived as an innovation to vehicle crime.
Is freight exchange fraud an addition to vehicle crime? We will come to our conclusion by looking back on the obtained knowledge in each of the previous chapters. Liberalisation of EU freight transport lead to the opportunity for the freight exchange to enhance efficiency but also came along with a new form of crime, freight exchange fraud. The freight exchange and freight exchange fraud were examined based on conversations with experts and inspection of police reports. This research resulted in the following definition of freight exchange fraud: Freight exchange fraud is the deliberate misuse of the freight exchange with the aim to steal cargo to fund other activities of the criminal organization. According to our definition, the target of freight exchange fraud is cargo. Based on the definition, freight exchange fraud does not seem an addition to vehicle crime but an innovation in vehicle crime. Cargo criminals seem to have enlarged their scope by involving the freight exchange as addition source of knowledge. The different working methods of freight exchange fraud – false document companies, company take-overs and infiltrators – seem to be complex, but lucrative, ways to prepare cargo thefts. We have performed a variety of correlation analyses. The first two analyses revealed that the components of vehicle crime – cargo theft, vehicle theft and combination theft – significantly depend on each other. In addition to significant between-variable correlation, also significant, at the 1% significance level, within-variable correlation with all three lags is found for each of the vehicle crime variables. The significant within-variable correlation seems to suggest that actors are the same within a specific component of vehicle crime or that the circumstances did not change and that the criminals keep on performing a certain crime. The significant between-variable correlation might on the one hand plea for the same actors and on the other hand for different actors. From this result we might be able to conclude, although with great reluctance, that when actors are different, freight exchange fraud is expected to be an addition to vehicle crime. When the actors are the same, this would indicate that freight exchange fraud is perceived as an innovation to vehicle crime.