ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Wants Whistleblower Help
Commission Issues $2 Million Reward
Recently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a whistleblower award of $2 million to a whistleblower who blew the whistle on violation of commodities trading regulations.[1] The CFTC is the government agency that oversees commodities and futures trading, options, derivatives and virtual currency (like Bitcoin) trades. The CFTC rewards whistleblowers whose information that leads to prosecution and sanctions against the organizers of fraudulent schemes in the trading of these investments. If you have credible information of commodities, securities, banking, or tax fraud in California call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. Our whistleblower attorneys represent whistleblowers in CFTC cases, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cases for securities fraud (related to stocks, bonds, private placements and variable annuities for example), banking fraud under, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cases for tax fraud, particularly offshore tax avoidance schemes.
What’s interesting about the recent award from the CFTC is that the whistleblower was not an insider. Rather, the whistleblower had reviewed market data to uncover a fraud that the agency itself had not detected. As Christopher Erwin, Director of the CFTC Whistleblower Office put it, “Today’s award illustrates two key aspects of our Whistleblower Program — that an individual doesn’t have to be an insider to receive a whistleblower award and the Commission can pay awards based on related actions brought by other regulators. I expect more awards to be issued to whistleblowers who provide our Enforcement Division with information based on their expert analysis of market data and to whistleblowers based on related actions.”
Regardless of whether the CFTC ultimately grants an award, the CFTC will not disclose any information which could reasonably be expected to reveal a whistleblower’s identity, except in limited circumstances such as when disclosure is required in connection with a public proceeding. If a reward is granted, the CFTC will not disclose the name of the enforcement action in which the whistleblower provided information, the award percentage granted to the whistleblower, and the exact dollar amount of the award granted. In short, your identity will be protected if you come forward. Since issuing its first award in 2014, the CFTC has awarded more than $85 million to whistleblowers.
Contact Us
If you have information regarding a whistleblower/qui tam case in San Francisco or elsewhere in California involving the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, False Claims Act cases, the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Office, banking fraud under FIRREA, or other illegal activity, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in these cases in any way.
