Statistics

SEC makes its annual whistleblower report to Congress – SPOILER ALERT: BEST YEAR EVER!

We already know it has been a banner year for the Securities and Exchange Commission's Whistleblower Program (fiscal year ending September 30).  As we previously reported, the record-breaking year included roughly $175 million in awards to 39 whistleblowers, with 15 awards in the month of September alone.  And this does not even include the $114 million blockbuster award the Commission made just three weeks ago,...

Record-Setting Submissions: CFTC Whistleblower Program 2020 Annual Report Documents Increasing Popularity of Program

Every year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is required to report to Congress about the CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, created by the Dodd-Frank Act, which pays awards to eligible whistleblowers who voluntarily provide the Commission with original information, about matters within the CFTC’s jurisdiction, that leads to the recovery of more than $1 million in monetary sanctions.  This week, the CFTC...

DOJ 2019 Fraud Statistics Tell Story of the Critical Role of Whistleblowers

The Department of Justice released its annual report of civil recoveries for fraud and false claims against the U.S., showing recoveries over $3 billion in settlements and judgments for the fiscal year ending September 2019. The data released by DOJ show the critical role that whistleblowers play in securing these recoveries for the government:  of the $3 billion recovered, over $2.2 billion – 72% – was recovered...

Tax Whistleblowers Gain New Protections and Collect Over $120 Million in Awards in 2019

The IRS Whistleblower Program released its FY 2019 Annual Report to Congress this week, sharing details on its continued efforts to improve transparency, enforce whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions, and enhance communications. The IRS Whistleblower office also reported that in 2019:

• • The U.S. collected over $616 million in proceeds attributable to whistleblower information; and
  • The IRS paid over...

SEC Whistleblower Program 2019 Annual Report Tells Story of Significant Impact - Despite Beginning the Year with a Government Shutdown

In its 2019 Annual Report to Congress, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower described its program as continuing to have a “significant impact” on enforcement and investor protection efforts.  In the fiscal year that ended in September 2019, the SEC Whistleblower Program received the second highest number of tips in program history, and issued the third largest whistleblower award to date. These numbers...

CFTC Whistleblower Program Annual Report Shows Program Open for Business, yet Challenges Persist

Fifteen million dollars is how much the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Whistleblower Program paid whistleblowers in FY 2019 according to the agency’s annual report to Congress.  This amount includes:

• $7 million to one individual whistleblower;
• Over $2 million to a non-insider whistleblower who provided independent analysis of market data; and,
• Close to $1.5 million to a...

Promising Changes to IRS Whistleblower Program – Tax Whistleblowers Now Protected Against Retaliation and Improved Communication when Reporting Tax Violations

Recent legislation marks a potential huge step forward for the IRS Whistleblower Program, which offers rewards of 15 to 30% of government recoveries to whistleblowers who report tax avoidance.  The Taxpayer First Act (TFA), which came into force on July 1, 2019 introduced key reforms that should benefit whistleblowers reporting tax evasion and underreporting. A few months ago, the IRS Whistleblower Office released...

Annual 2018 IRS Whistleblower Program Report

Tax whistleblowers and those who believe that no one should be able to lie, cheat, or buy their way out of paying their tax bills got some good news in the IRS Whistleblower Office’s report last month on the 2018 fiscal year. Notably, the IRS issued 217 whistleblower awards totaling over $312 million, a nearly tenfold increase over the prior year. That’s an enormous shot in the arm for what should be a highly...

Healthcare Whistleblowers Continue as Backbone of DOJ Recoveries: A Look at DOJ’s 2018 Fraud and FCA Statistics

The Department of Justice released its annual report of DOJ recoveries for fraud and false claims against the U.S., showing recoveries of $2.8 billion in settlements and judgments for the fiscal year ending September 2018. Once again, recoveries for healthcare fraud accounted for the majority of funds recovered: of the $2.8 billion recovered, $2.5 billion was attributed to healthcare fraud. And, once again,

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Record-Breaking Year for the SEC Whistleblower Program: What the SEC Annual Report Tells Whistleblowers

In its 2018 Annual Report to Congress, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower described a “record-breaking year,” with a substantial increase in the number of tips received and the largest whistleblower awards to date.  While these numbers illustrate the benefits of the SEC Whistleblower Program, the SEC rightly says that it is “most proud” of the benefits the Whistleblower Program offers to investors, with over...