Federal Procurement Fraud Reward
Whistleblowers reporting misconduct can receive awards from either federal or state programs designed to reward those willing to report misconduct. These monetary incentives are designed to help encourage more people to report wrongdoing.
Federal Whistleblower Reward
There are multiple federal reward programs for whistleblowers:
IRS Whistleblower Reward Program: The IRS has a program to reward whistleblowers who report tax fraud. Tax fraud can include underpayment. The IRS program can award a percentage of any recovery to the whistleblower who reported the fraud, and the largest such payment was $104 million.
False Claims Act Reward Program: The False Claims Act establishes both protections for whistleblowers and a reward structure to encourage witnesses or those with knowledge of wrongdoing to come forward. The False Claims Act can award those who report fraud against the federal government. Award vary in size with the largest being a $250 million dollar reward.
Qui Tam Lawsuit: Qui Tam lawsuits are another name for reporting wrongdoing under the False Claim Act program. Qui Tam lawsuits can result in awards per the reward program created by the False Claims Act.
CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program: The CFTC whistleblower reward program helps reward those who report wrongdoing regarding commodity exchange. Any violation of the Commodity Exchange Act that results in a sanction or penalty can result in a whistleblower reward for the person who reported the violation. The largest CFTC reward to date was $45 million.
SEC Whistleblower Reward Program: The SEC has a whistleblower reward program to compensate those who help report security violations. Those who report security fraud can receive substantial compensation for their assistance in the investigation, the SEC recently announced a record $114 million award this year.
Securities Fraud Whistleblower Reward
The SEC handles reports of security fraud and security violations. The SEC has awarded nearly $700 million in whistleblower rewards as of late 2020, including a record $114 million award to one whistleblower. The program was established by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.
Common reported security violations include: accounting fraud, investment fraud, security fraud, insider trading, bribery, Ponzi schemes, hedge fund fraud, unregistered securities, investment adviser fraud, anti-money laundering violations, deceptive non-GAAP financial disclosures, improper revenue recognition, auditory independence violation, incomplete cybersecurity disclosures and cryptocurrency fraud.
Illegal Kickback Whistleblower Reward
If you have knowledge of an illegal kickback, the reward programs for whistleblowers exist to incentivize reporting. An illegal kickback is when a company or individual pays an individual to steer a contract to them unfairly, or pays to steer business to them unfairly. Examples exist in federal government procurement, such as awarding a contract without competition, and can exist in other venues such as a doctor receiving compensation to purchase a specific medication for patients or steer the purchasing decision of an organization to a specific companies products.
Whistleblower Attorney
Schneider Wallace represents whistleblowers. Schedule a consult with our whistleblower law firm for representation in jurisdictions throughout the United States. We also have offices in in California, Texas, North Carolina and Puerto Rico.
Schneider Wallace can represent you on a contingency fee, meaning you only pay a percentage of any reward received to your attorney. We can also assist you in preserving anonymity as a whistleblower. To see if you have a whistleblower claim and speak with a lawyer with years of experience handling both government whistleblower and contractor fraud cases, contact us at 1-800-689-0024 or info@schneiderwallace.com.