Maria Cronin
Maria has extensive experience of advising corporate and individual clients on all aspects of business crime, including corruption and money laundering. Her practice focuses on white-collar cases with a truly international dimension.
Maria regularly represents high-profile individuals and companies subject to complex corruption, money laundering, insider dealing, competition and tax investigations. Maria provides strategic advice, including where there is underlying political motivation and potential abuse of a state's criminal justice system.
Maria advises on all aspects of extradition and has also successfully acted for a number of prominent individuals who were the subject of red notices and / or diffusions on INTERPOL's information systems.
She has extensive experience of advising on, and carrying out, complex and often sensitive internal investigations both here and overseas. Both as part of an internal investigation and also separately, she is asked to advise companies on their compliance with the UK Bribery Act, the money laundering regulations, sanctions and export controls.
Given the international nature of her cases, Maria works closely with teams of professional advisors both here and overseas.
Chambers 2025 and 2024 rate Maria as ‘Up and Coming’ and for fast becoming a go-to lawyer for POCA matters, including those arising out of investigations into alleged corruption, conspiracy and money laundering, with clients saying that she “is meticulous on the detail, surefooted on advice, inspires confidence and is extremely reassuring. She's also really easy going and lovely to work with" and that "is excellent and has good POCA experience".
In Legal 500 2024 (Prosecution), one client praised Maria for being “superb” and another said “she is very hard-working, dedicated, client-focused, responsive, and thinks out of the box when it comes to creating solutions for her clients.”
Maria is former President of the Criminal Commission of the UIA (Union Internationale des Avocats); and former UK National President of the UIA. Maria also sits on the Advisory Committee of the Fraud Advisory Panel. She regularly speaks and chairs panels on issues of corruption, money laundering, corporate liability, ESG and general financial crime.
Prior to joining Peters & Peters, she worked at the European Commission. She is a native French speaker, who also reads Russian and German.
Case examples
Representing and coordinating the international strategy of the former CEO of a large Dutch company on corruption and conspiracy charges.
Conducting a successful extensive internal investigation for a major UK engineering company and its overseas parent group, working primarily in the offshore oil and gas, renewable energy and telecoms market.
Successfully defending a company and managing director in a private prosecution for fraud in a landmark judgment on the prosecutor’s duty of candour.
Advising the owner of one of Ukraine’s largest gas and energy companies subject to numerous criminal allegations, including securing the setting aside of a 23 million dollar restraint order pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the closure of the SFO’s money laundering investigation.
Advising a major corporation and its founding partners on extradition and INTERPOL matters in an ongoing politically motivated campaign.
Related expertise
- Bank Account Freezing
- Bribery & Corruption
- Business Crime & Investigations
- Compliance
- Criminal Cartels
- Criminal Fraud
- Criminal Restraint & Confiscation
- Cybercrime & Data Theft
- ESG Litigation & Enforcement
- Employee Fraud
- Extradition
- INTERPOL Red Notices
- Internal Investigations
- Money Laundering
- Mutual Legal Assistance
- Private Prosecutions
- Sanctions & Export Controls
- Serious & General Crime
- Unexplained Wealth Orders