ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program
Program Under Department Of Justice Criminal Division
Rewards Of Up To 30% Of Forfeitures
On August 1, 2024, the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division launched the Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (the Program), to offer whistleblower awards for reports of corporate misconduct. Under the Program, whistleblowers who voluntarily provide the Criminal Division with original and truthful information about corporate misconduct that results in a criminal or civil forfeiture greater than $1 million are now eligible for a financial award. The award may be up to 30% of the first $100 million in net proceeds forfeited and up to 5% of any net proceeds forfeited between $100 million and $500 million. If you have credible information of corporate misconduct in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Eligible Information Must Relate to Specified Crimes
The Program is modeled on similar programs at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). To be eligible for an award, a whistleblower, alone or jointly with others, must provide information related to crimes that are not covered by other whistleblower award programs:
- Certain crimes involving financial institutions, their insiders or agents. This covers entities from traditional banks to cryptocurrency businesses and schemes involving money laundering, anti-money laundering compliance violations, registration of money-transmitting businesses, fraud statutes, and fraud against and noncompliance with financial institution regulators.
- Foreign corruption involving misconduct by companies, including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Extortion Prevention Act and violations of money laundering statutes.
- Domestic corruption involving misconduct by companies, including but not limited to federal, state, territorial, or local elected or appointed officials, and officers or employees of any government department or agency.
- Health care fraud schemes involving private insurance plans not subject to qui tam recovery under the False Claims Act.
Whistleblowers Must Meet Certain Requirements
Employees who report misconduct through internal company systems are still eligible to obtain an award if they submit information to the DOJ within 120 days of the initial internal report to the company. Whether the whistleblower participated in internal compliance systems by reporting the issue internally first may be a factor that increases an award. The DOJ will also consider whether the whistleblower unreasonably delayed reporting the criminal violations or attempted to interfere or undermine a company’s internal compliance or reporting system.
Awards will not be made to individuals who “meaningfully participated in,” directed, planned, initiated or were convicted of the misconduct they report. The DOJ has noted that individuals who face criminal liability for certain misconduct may be able to report previously undetected issues to other DOJ offices that offer the possibility of non-prosecution agreements, subject to certain conditions. The DOJ may also deny an award where the whistleblower held a management role over the personnel or offices involved in the misconduct, including a role as corporate executive.
A qualifying whistleblower must be an individual, not a company or another type of entity.
Information Must Be ‘Original’
“Original” information is information that is derived from an individual’s independent knowledge or independent analysis, and that is nonpublic and not previously known to the DOJ, regardless of whether the DOJ already has an investigation open related to the information provided. Information will not be considered “original” if it was obtained:
- through certain communications that are subject to the attorney-client privilege or criminal means,
- in connection with certain legal representations or hearing, or
- as a result of being an officer, director, trustee, partner or a person retained to perform a compliance role, audit or investigatory function, and the information is learned as part of that role.
Contact Us
If you have credible information of corporate misconduct in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call Ingrid M. Evans at (415) 441-8669, or toll-free at 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267) or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. In addition to FCA and CFCA whistleblower cases, Ingrid and Evans Law Firm, Inc. also handle bank fraud whistleblower cases under FIRREA/FIAFEA, commodity trading and securities fraud under the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program and the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, and tax fraud under the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program.
