Whistleblower Insider Blog

Whistleblower News from the Inside - October 18, 2013

Wall Street Journal prohibited from disclosing LIBOR culprits – A UK court grants a request from the UK Serious Fraud Office preventing the paper from identifying individuals the UK plans to implicate in the LIBOR rate-fixing scheme, a press restriction unheard of in the U.S.  WSJ Snowden denies disclosing secrets to Russia – The NSA whistleblower says he dumped all his classified documents before fleeing to...

Fat, Stressed and not Very Healthy -- How We Rank in the Human Capital Index

By Gordon Schnell Just when it seemed like America's global standing could not get any worse, here is a new finding that sinks us even lower.  We are a country of overweight, highly stressed and generally unhealthy people.  That is the ultimate pronouncement from the Human Capital Report just released by the World Economic Forum.  It ranks the 122 major countries of the world according to how healthy,...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - October 15, 2013

New vehicle for whistleblowers to report anonymously to press – Freedom of the Press Foundation introduces SecureDrop, an open-source system that permits whistleblowers to send reporters information and documents incognito.  Time More revelations on NSA snooping – The latest news on the NSA surveillance front is that the spy agency is collecting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal email and...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - October 11, 2013

NY proposes new whistleblower law – It would provide bounties and protections for reporting to the NY Department of Financial Services possible violations of the state’s banking, insurance and financial services laws.  Forbes UK considers US-styled whistleblower program – With the introduction of its new FBI-like National Crime Agency, the British government says it will also consider implementing a...

The Cheater's High -- Perhaps They Prosper After All

By Gordon Schnell Cheaters never prosper.  At least that is what we are told at an early age by parents and teachers to keep us on the right side of the great moral divide.  The truth is, cheaters do pretty well.  And not just financially.  They thrive emotionally too, feeling quite pleased with themselves and their wayward wanderings. That is the unexpected finding from a new study just published in the...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - October 8, 2013

Pharma firms fund FDA advisory panel on painkillers – Internal FDA emails show that major pharmaceutical companies paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to participate on a scientific panel set up to advise the FDA on painkiller safety and effectiveness.  Washington Post NSA’s new billion dollar spying center is not working – There have been 10 electrical meltdowns in the past 13 months preventing the...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - October 4, 2013

A-Rod sues MLB – Taking the offensive in the ongoing doping scandal spawned by Biogenesis whistleblower Porter Fischer, Rodriguez claims the league has engaged in a “witch hunt” to force him out of baseball.  NYT Stockbrokers from expelled firms keep on selling – In a practice known as “cockroaching,” there is a pattern of brokers moving from one problem firm to another.  WSJ Government goes...

SEC Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is With $14M Whistleblower Award

By Gordon Schnell It has been more than two years since the SEC Whistleblower Office officially opened its doors.  Born out of the Dodd-Frank Act, it was created to help usher in a new day of more aggressive enforcement at an agency that up until recently many believed was very much asleep at the switch.  But with all of the fanfare surrounding the new office, and the flood of whistleblower tips that have poured...

WATD Boston Radio Interview With Gordon Schnell on Whistleblowing and Sports

There has been a never-ending pageantry of fallen sports heroes and broken sports programs -- Lance Armstrong; Penn State; Alex Rodriguez; Tyson Gay; Oklahoma State; Rutgers; the New Orleans Saints.  The list goes on and on.  You name it.  It seems these days there is not a professional sport or big-time college sports program that has not been at the center of or deeply impacted by one scandal or another...

Whistleblower News from the Inside - October 1, 2013

Hidden harms of government shutdown – In addition to its obvious impact on federal workers and the economy, the shutdown would also affect numerous government programs for veterans, the disabled, and the poor.  Washington Post SEC makes $14 million whistleblower award – This is the agency’s fourth award and by far its largest under the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.  SEC Annual cost for...