On March 31, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) awarded $12 million to two whistleblowers who voluntarily provided original information about the misconduct of a registered broker-dealer. Their disclosures contributed to the success of an SEC enforcement action against the company.
“Whistleblowers play a critical role in helping the SEC detect and prosecute wrongdoing and in protecting investors and the capital markets,” said Creola Kelly, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “The information and assistance provided by these two whistleblowers in helping to identify complex wrongdoing demonstrates the importance of the whistleblower program to the SEC’s enforcement efforts.”
The SEC awarded $9 million to one of the whistleblowers and $3 million to the other. According to the award order, the discrepancy in award sizes was due to the fact that “Claimant 1’s information was more important to the investigation because Claimant 1’s information was received by the Commission several years before Claimant 2’s information.”
The SEC further notes that the first whistleblower “prompted the opening of the investigation and provided information on violations that would otherwise have been difficult to detect. This whistleblower identified key witnesses, helped staff understand complex fact patterns and issues, and made persistent efforts to remedy the issues.”
According to the SEC, the second whistleblower “submitted important new information during the...
Dish Wireless LLC agreed to pay roughly $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, common law, and the Communications Act of 1934 relating to claims submitted to Fed...