In recent years, whistleblower advocates have criticized the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the way it handles whistleblowers, specifically those filing claims under the False Claims Act (FCA). According to a leading whistleblower attorney, the recently passed Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Whistleblower Improvement Act could be a game-changer for how the DOJ handles whistleblower claims.
Stephen M. Kohn of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto recently appeared on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss recent developments in the whistleblowing field. They spoke about the passage of the AML Whistleblower Improvement Act and the DOJ’s handling of whistleblower cases.
“The problem with all whistleblower laws is sometimes the institutional resistance of bureaucracies,” Kohn said. “So the U.S. Department of Justice, in my view, is schizophrenic. We deal with DOJ, prosecutors and investigators who are fantastic. The honor confidentiality, they’re dedicated. They do a brilliant job. Well, there are others in the department that are clearly hostile to whistleblowers. And really, I mean, it’s just bad news, we’ll put it that way.”
Kohn previously referred to the DOJ’s statistics on False Claims Act whistleblower cases for the 2022 fiscal year as a “disgrace.” In FY 2022 the DOJ recovered only $776 million in FCA whistleblower cases in which it intervened, the lowest total since 2004. In contrast, FCA whistleblower cases where the DOJ did not intervene resulted in a record $1.1...
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