Corporate Crime and Fraud

Leading crime barrister

Brian has extensive experience in handling cases of complex fraud, cybercrime, bribery, corruption and cartels.

Brian’s expertise as a leading crime barrister is exceptionally useful when dealing with corporate crime, such as corruption, fraud and insider dealing. He has a powerful ability to understand complex financial and business data. He is logical, analytical, an excellent problem-solver, highly resourceful and a bold decision-maker.

Brian is ‘top ranked’ in The Legal 500 for Business & Regulatory Crime.

He handles financial crime matters as part of his broader criminal law practice. He has defended and advised in large-scale fraud cases including mortgage and tax fraud, insider dealing and other serious fraud and corruption cases. These have included fraud regarding the flotation of a company based upon alleged mining deposits in Butte, Montana, USA, the trial of Brent Walker’s finance director and large-scale corruption in the Met Police, originally exposed by the BBC’s Panorama.

Brian has also advised the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) on alleged cartel offences, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in blockbuster cases, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on insider dealing.

In May 2021, Brian was commissioned by the Director of the Serious Fraud Office to investigate and report following the collapse of the Serco trial of R v Woods and Marshall in April of that year. His report was published by the Serious Fraud Office in July 2022. See: https://www.sfo.gov.uk/2022/07/21/publication-of-brian-altman-qc-and-sir-david-calvert-smith-reviews/.

On 19 October 2022, Brian appeared before the Justice Committee in Parliament to give evidence about the report. He appeared with Sir David Calvert-Smith (former DPP and High Court Judge) and Anthony Rogers (His Majesty’s Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service) in relation to their report into the SFO’s mishandling of the Unaoil case. Watch here.