Fraudsters beware: The days of running decades-long Ponzi schemes are over. Whistleblowers can now report your frauds and scams to the SEC and potentially earn multimillion-dollar awards for their efforts.
Since 2011, the SEC has issued more than $2.2 billion in awards to whistleblowers who provided original information to the SEC about violations of federal securities laws, including reports of Ponzi schemes, scams, and other frauds. Under the SEC Whistleblower Program, the SEC awards eligible whistleblowers when their tips lead to successful enforcement actions with monetary sanctions in excess of $1 million. A whistleblower may receive an award of between 10% and 30% of the total monetary sanctions collected. If represented by counsel, a whistleblower may submit a tip anonymously to the SEC.
Luckily for whistleblowers (and unfortunately for Bernie Madoff wannabes), there has never been a better time for whistleblowers to report Ponzi schemes to the SEC and receive whistleblower awards. As explained below, Ponzi schemes are near all-time highs and the SEC is focused on rooting out these frauds. Whistleblowers can identify these Ponzi schemes based on their common characteristics and “red flags” for fraud. Once identified, whistleblowers should take the appropriate steps to report the Ponzi schemes in accordance with the rules of the SEC Whistleblower Program to ensure their eligibility for an award and to maximize their award percentage.
Police said there were no injuries and no shots fired after false reports of an active aggressor at the Kentucky Expo Center and Kentucky Kingdom on Sunday.