The United States continues to expand its whistleblower reward programs, and that is a very good thing.
These programs open the door to insiders bringing forward information that roots out fraud and protects the public from unhinged corporate power. Since the start of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower reward program, whistleblowers have helped the government recover over $6.3 billion in monetary sanctions against companies that have done wrong.
Congress then further strengthened the nation’s ability to uncover fraud and corruption by creating a whistleblower program for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in 2021 and expanding it in 2022. Strong financial incentives under that program will bring evidence of money laundering and sanctions evasion fraud to light.
The financial incentives in the SEC and FinCEN whistleblower programs, which provide whistleblowers with 10 to 30 percent of the fines the government imposes, have undoubtedly increased tips sent to government agencies. The SEC program was born in 2010, in the wake of the financial crisis, and paid its first whistleblower award in 2012. Since then, the size of awards and number of tips have been growing.
This year, the SEC announced its largest ever whistleblower award, at $279 million. While that sounds like a lot of money, the government recognizes that whistleblowers are invaluable assets to law enforcement: without convincing them to come forward for the greater good, we...
Patricia White, 70, of Old Greenwich, received a nine-month prison sentence for submitting false claims for unclaimed properties to around 30 state treasuries. HARRISBURG, Pa. — Months after her br...