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---
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category: "BCCI Scandal"
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created: 2024-04-25
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updated: 2026-09-22
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updated: 2026-09-23
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tags:
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- Person
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- BCCI
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- Lawyer
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- Banking
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summary: "Robert Altman was a Washington attorney and partner to Clark Clifford who served as president of First American Bankshares and was indicted by Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau in July 1992 on charges of bribery and fraud related to BCCI's secret ownership of the bank; he was acquitted by a Manhattan jury in September 1993."
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summary: "Washington lawyer, Clark Clifford's partner and president of First American Bankshares, indicted in July 1992 over BCCI's secret ownership of the bank and acquitted by a Manhattan jury in August 1993."
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born: 1947-02-23
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died: 2021-02-03
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location: "Washington, D.C."
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relations:
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- type: represented
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with: "[[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]]"
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start: 1978
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end: 1990
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role: "American counsel"
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fn: 1
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[First American Bank]]"
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role: "president"
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fn: 13
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- type: director_of
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with: "[[Credit and Commerce American Holdings]]"
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fn: 18
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Robert Morgenthau]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1992-07-29
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end: 1993-08-14
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fn: 16
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- type: investigated
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with: "[[Federal Reserve Board]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1992-07-29
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end: 1998-02
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fn: 18
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---
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Robert Altman was a prominent American lawyer and banker, known for his close association with [[Clark Clifford]] and his involvement in the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]] scandal. He served as the former president of [[First American Bank]] and was Clifford's law partner and protégé. Altman, along with Clifford, acted as BCCI's chief American counsel from 1978 to 1990.[^1]
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@ -30,6 +56,22 @@ In February 1988, Altman and Clifford sold a large portion of their stock in Fir
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Altman was indicted by a New York grand jury in July 1992, along with Clark Clifford, on charges related to bribery and fraud for their role in helping BCCI influence First American Bank's affairs.[^11]
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### The Federal Reserve Application
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On June 2, 1981, Altman asked the [[Federal Reserve Board|Federal Reserve]], on behalf of the Middle Eastern investors and [[Credit and Commerce American Holdings]] (CCAH), to seal portions of the transcript of its April 23, 1981 hearing; the request was granted, "preventing anyone outside the Federal Reserve from learning the identities of several of the shareholders." At the hearing he told the Federal Reserve's counsel that it was "not correct" that [[Kamal Adham]] and [[Faisal Saud al-Fulaij]] had first been interested in the investment by BCCI, and that Adham had learned of it from "a friend who worked in the Saudi Arabian Embassy, Mr Yassin." In a letter to the Federal Reserve of May 9, 1978, he had given a different account, in which [[Jackson Stephens]] first proposed Financial General to a BCCI representative during the sale of the National Bank of Georgia in November 1977.[^12]
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### National Bank of Georgia
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On May 8, 1986, Altman wrote to [[Swaleh Naqvi]] enclosing a valuation of the National Bank of Georgia by First American's treasurer, A. Vincent Scoffone, and hoping for a price of 160 to 175 million dollars, as "we are nearing the point at which this purchase is too expensive."[^13] He later told journalists that the purchase "was clearly an arms-length business deal," and told the Senate that "First American, not BCCI, initiated the NBG transaction." Altman denied to the Senate subcommittee that he had attended a meeting in [[Miami]] with Abedi, Naqvi and Clifford at which the merger was arranged; [[Roy P. M. Carlson]], the bank's former president, told the subcommittee's staff that he, Clifford and Altman had met at the Grand Bay Hotel in Miami in February 1986 to discuss the price.[^13][^14] According to BCCI's former New York manager, [[Abdur Sakhia]], Altman was present when Sakhia and Naqvi discussed using Faisal al-Fulaij as the nominee for a planned BCCI purchase of the Eagle Bank in Florida.[^13]
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### Stock and Testimony
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Hammoud granted Altman a power of attorney allowing him to conduct any transaction in CCAH shares on Hammoud's behalf; Altman testified that he had never met Hammoud. The Federal Reserve found that "On February 12, 1991, in sworn testimony to the Board of Governors, Altman falsely stated that he did not know how the purchase price of $6800 per share was fixed, and that he did not discuss the matter with Imam."[^13] According to the [[House Banking Committee]], BCCI paid some 45 million dollars in legal fees disbursed by Altman; he told the Senate that the amount was "approximately $20 million."[^13]
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### Trial and Settlement
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On July 29, 1992, Altman was indicted by a New York State grand jury and a federal grand jury in Washington; the state charges carried a maximum of 32 years in prison and about 80 million dollars in fines.[^15] His trial in the Manhattan Supreme Court before Justice John Bradley began in March 1993, and on August 14, 1993, the jury acquitted him of the remaining counts, the others having been dismissed during the trial.[^16][^17] Under a Federal Reserve consent order dated effective February 1998 he relinquished 895 CCAH shares and agreed not to serve as an officer or director of a bank holding company or insured depository institution without the Board's consent, a restriction that did not apply to work "solely in the capacity of an attorney"; the order recorded that he had not served in such a post since 1991.[^18]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 8.
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@ -43,3 +85,10 @@ Altman was indicted by a New York grand jury in July 1992, along with Clark Clif
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[^9]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 215.
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[^10]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 215.
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[^11]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 14.
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[^12]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 6, "BCCI in the United States: Initial Entry." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm
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[^13]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 13, "Clark Clifford and Robert Altman." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/13clifford.htm
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[^14]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 7, "BCCI in the United States: Later Acquisitions." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/07later.htm
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[^15]: "Clifford, Altman indicted in BCCI bank fraud," United Press International, July 29, 1992. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/07/29/Clifford-Altman-indicted-in-BCCI-bank-fraud/5122712382400/
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[^16]: "Altman Acquitted on BCCI Counts," *The Washington Post,* August 15, 1993. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/15/altman-acquitted-on-bcci-counts/33f3090f-0a02-4934-9c81-37f843aaead7/
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[^17]: "Charges dropped against Clark Clifford in BCCI case," United Press International, November 30, 1993. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/11/30/Charges-dropped-against-Clark-Clifford-in-BCCI-case/6641754635600/
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[^18]: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, *In the Matter of Clark M. Clifford and Robert A. Altman, Institution-Affiliated Parties of Credit and Commerce American Holdings, N.V.,* Docket Nos. 92-080-E-I1, 92-080-B-I1, 92-080-CMP-I1, 92-080-E-I2, 92-080-B-I2, 92-080-CMP-I2, consent order, "effective this [day, illegible in the scan] day of February, 1998," with the Second Amended Notice of Intent to Prohibit of January 14, 1997 (Federal Reserve press release of February 3, 1998). https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/enforcement/1998/19980203/Attachment.pdf
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