August 3, 2016
The U.S. Tax Court made a whistleblower award of
$17.8 million to a pair of whistleblowers which for the first time includes a portion of criminal fines and civil forfeitures in addition to part of the taxes the government recouped because of information they provided. The parties involved in the case weren’t disclosed but it appears to stem from the prosecution of Wegelin & Co, the Swiss bank that closed after it pleaded guilty in 2013 to conspiring with U.S. taxpayers to hide money from the IRS.
WSJ