“He is known for his superior intellect, careful attention to detail and great communication skills. Bott handles a number of complex fraud matters for clients from the financial services industry.”
Chambers & Partners 2023
- Called 1979
- Queens Counsel 2008
- Called to the BVI bar 2022
Charles is a well-known and highly regarded advocate, who specialises in cases of serious fraud, money laundering and revenue evasion. Since 2012 he has been a Chambers and Partners top ranked silk (Band 1) in Financial Crime, is ranked as a leading Silk by Legal 500, and in 2023 was recognised as leading fraud lawyer in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers of the United Kingdom.
He combines extensive criminal experience with a background in civil and commercial law and has also become a leading practitioner and recognised authority in the fields of civil fraud litigation, asset recovery, civil recovery and account freeing orders. He has recently led several teams in the private prosecution of serious fraud.
Charles has appeared in more than 90 serious fraud trials in his career, including some of the leading cases of recent years. He has represented politicians, solicitors, accountants and prominent figures in the city and insurance markets.
His recent work includes criminal aspects of insider dealing, rate manipulation, cross-jurisdictional asset recovery, market manipulation and anti-competitive trading. He has advised banks and other financial institutions and has drafted asset recovery legislation for overseas territories and advised on the implementation of money laundering and mutual assistance regimes.
Charles frequently contributes articles to Lexis on subjects relating to fraud and financial crime and has written for various other publications.
He regularly speaks to audiences in different parts of the world on subjects relating to fraud, money laundering and international asset recovery.
Expertise areas
- Crime
- Business Crime & Fraud
- Criminal Regulatory
- Asset Forfeiture & Civil Recovery
- Public Law
- International Law
- Private Prosecution
Plaudits
“A superb advocate and one of the finest silks at the criminal bar”
Chambers & Partners 2023“His knowledge and immediate understanding of a fraud case and his communication skills are incredible.”
Legal 500 2022“A technically brilliant advocate who is very insightful and sees things other KCs don’t see”
Legal 500 2023“He is known for his superior intellect, careful attention to detail and great communications skills”
Chambers & Partners 2021“He has incredible experience of dealing with some of the most serious and infamous cases”
Legal 500 2021