Claire Burtwistle

Claire Burtwistle

Call: 2008

Actions

Claire specialises in financial crime and is consistently instructed in large, complex cases of international fraud, bribery and corruption. She is usually brought in at a very early stage to advise on pre-charge matters, with a focus on intelligence gathering, investigation strategy and disclosure obligations. She is currently instructed by the UK Serious Fraud Office on their investigation into individuals associated with London Capital & Finance Plc.

Claire has been on the SFOs B panel since 2016 and has worked on some of their most contentious and difficult cases involving liaison with overseas law enforcement and mutual legal assistance. In particular, she specialises in cases with electronic evidence amounting to many hundreds of thousands of documents and has led teams of up to 25 lawyers.

Claire has experience far beyond her call of financial crime investigations operating under the Roskill model, working closely with investigators and forensic accountants. She prides herself on her ability to understand complex cases quickly and she has a well-deserved reputation for providing confident, robust, sensible advice.

Education

 2008 – Bar Vocational Course, BPP London

2007 – Law Degree LLM, University of London

2006 – Law Degree LLB (Hons), University College London

 

Appointments

Serious Fraud Office Advocates Panel – B Panel

Crown Prosecution Service Advocates Panel – Grade 1

 

Professional Memberships

Young Fraud Lawyers Association

Criminal Bar Association

Women in Criminal Law

South Eastern Circuit

Recent notable cases

R v Purcell, 2013 (defence, possession of false ID documents with intent and obtaining false ID documents by deception, case involved European Arrest Warrant, guilty plea, awaiting sentence)

London Borough of Southwark v Albert Adu-Boateng, 2013 (prosecution, Operation Bronze, using fraudulent documents for homelessness application, case dated back nearly 10 years, guilty plea during trial)

R v Khan, 2013 (defence, client was a professional man caught “red handed” committing a dwelling burglary with two others, sentenced to a community order)

R v Shaikh, 2013 (defence, harassment, client was a medical professional, successful submis-sion of no case to answer after 7 days of prosecution evidence, linked employment tribunal, defamation proceedings and regulatory investigation)

R v Cisse, 2013 (defence, client caught on CCTV in a group committing two “steaming” robberies in Carphone Warehouse shops, guilty plea, sentenced to a suspended sentence)

R v G, 2013 (defence, secondment, 4 month trial, $100 million boiler room fraud – see above)

R v DM and others, 2012 (defence, arson, 8 week trial, prosecution arising out of a string of offences which culminated in £4 million of damage to the M1 motorway, 10 young defendants, cut throat defences). Led by Daniel Murray.

R v Crockford, 2012 (defence, £130,000 fraud by abuse of position, client was a female accountant with mental health conditions, subsequent confiscation proceedings)

R v Gibson, 2012 (defence, £45,000 benefit fraud, female defendant aged 69, complicated case with international banking element and pressure falling short of duress)

London Borough of Southwark v Williams, 2012 (prosecution, £60,000 benefit fraud and subsequent confiscation proceedings.

Memberships

  • Middle Temple;
  • Criminal Bar Association;
  • Young Fraud Lawyers Association;
  • Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association;
  • Female Fraud Forum;
  • South Eastern Circuit.

Education

  • University of London (2007, LLM Law)
  • University College London (2006, LLB Law)

Menu