Whistleblower Insider Blog

SEC Makes Record Whistleblower Award of $114 Million

Posted 10/29/20

Following on the heels of a record-breaking year for SEC whistleblower awards, the SEC broke new ground yet again with its blockbuster award last week of $114 million. It far exceeds the next highest award of $50 million the SEC made in June. And it brings to $676 million to 108 whistleblowers the total tally to date of awards under the SEC Whistleblower Program. Other than its size, another notable feature...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Whistleblower Rewards,

A company about nothing: SPACs and fraud

Posted 10/27/20
By Sarah “Poppy” Alexander

The hot retro design trend these days is not only slip dresses and tie-dye, but an once-obscure investment vehicle called a Special Purpose Acquisition Company or SPAC. SPACs (aka “blank check” companies) are sweeping the nation as the darling of investors who wish to take a company public without the scrutiny of an IPO.

So what is a SPAC?

With due apologies to Seinfield, SPACs are companies about nothing. ...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Insider Trading,

Catch of the Week: Goldman Sachs Agrees to Pay Over $2.9 Billion in Foreign Bribery Case

Posted 10/23/20

businessmen shaking hands and other placing money in others pocket

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and its Malaysian subsidiary have admitted to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by engaging in a scheme to pay more than $1.6 billion in bribes to foreign officials in exchange for lucrative contracts. According to Goldman’s admissions and court documents, Goldman paid these bribes to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi in order to obtain and retain...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, FCPA, Financial and Investment Fraud, Foreign Exchange, Money Laundering,

Whistleblowing As a Civic Duty: Now Is the Time To Act

Posted 10/23/20
By Edward Baker

With voting in the 2020 election underway and the presidential debates behind us, now is a good time to reflect on the importance of civic duties to the preservation of American democracy. Voting, paying taxes, serving on a jury, and registering with selective service are all examples of such duties—responsibilities which, if ignored or unfulfilled by enough individuals, will cause the institutional fabric holding...

Tagged in: Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, Whistleblower Eligibility, Whistleblower Protection Laws, Whistleblower Rewards,

Proposed Changes to NY FCA Tax Provisions Rattle Potential Tax Fraudsters

Posted 10/16/20

Albany New York Capitol Complex buildings against blue sky

New York is one of several states that has provisions in its state False Claims Act (“NY FCA”) allowing whistleblower (or qui tam) suits for violations of the state’s tax laws. On August 3, 2020 (Senate) and October 7, 2020 (Assembly), the New York state legislature, introduced bills proposing revisions to the NY FCA’s tax provisions.

The Proposed Legislation

The Senate bill’s accompanying memorandum...

Tagged in: FCA State, IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, Legislation and Regulation News, Tax Fraud,

JPMorgan Chase Pays nearly $1 Billion in Fines for Market Manipulation of Precious Metals and U.S. Treasuries

Posted 10/16/20
By Carolina Gonzalez

investors on computers for market trading

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay over $955 million to settle civil and criminal charges over a scheme involving fake trades in precious metals and U.S. treasuries designed to manipulate the market in an effort to enhance the bank’s profits and cut losses. The multi-agency enforcement action was brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Financial and Investment Fraud, Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets, International Whistleblowers, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Whistleblower Rewards,

Catch of the Week: Texas-Sized Indictment for $2 Billion Tax Fraud

Posted 10/16/20

texas longhorn bull standing in open grass field

Everything sure is bigger in Texas. Bigger hair, bigger churches, bigger stadiums, bigger ranches, and bigger sky. Oh, and as of this week, bigger billionaires committing bigger frauds! On Thursday, federal prosecutors in California charged Robert T. Brockman, a Houston tech executive, with hiding $2 billion in income from the Internal Revenue Service. True to Texas form, David L. Anderson, the U.S. attorney...

Tagged in: Abusive Tax Shelters, Catch of the Week, Importance of Whistleblowers, IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, Money Laundering, Tax Fraud,

A Better Approach to Fighting Fraud in West-Virginia: Bring in the Whistleblowers

Posted 10/12/20
By Gordon Schnell, Max Voldman

(Guest Essay Published in the Dominion Post) As the saying goes, Mountaineers are always free in West Virginia. Unfortunately, the cost of fraud is not. And as evidenced by the eye-popping $50 million fraud settlement the federal government just secured from Wheeling Hospital, there is a lot of fraud going around these days. The problem for the Mountain State is it does not have the proper tools to deal with...

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Legislation and Regulation News, Whistleblower Eligibility, Whistleblower Rewards,

Partner Mary Inman and Theranos whistleblower, Erika Cheung, speak on the Forbes' stage about whistleblowers & corporate accountability

Posted 10/9/20

Male standing with their silhouette as a whistle

On 30 October 2019, Constantine Cannon partner Mary Inman and Erika Cheung, founder of Ethics in Entrepreneurship and a former whistleblower who reported Theranos to health regulators, shared the stage in Detroit at the Forbes 30 under 30 conference to discuss the importance of whistleblowers and corporate accountability, as captured in the video below. The discussions kicked off with Erika’s experience...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Importance of Whistleblowers, International Whistleblowers, Whistleblower Eligibility,

Partners Mary Inman and Henry Su discuss whistleblowing in Montfort Communications’ webinar "Whistleblowing: a Legal and Media Perspective from Both Sides of the Atlantic"

Posted 10/9/20

Constantine Cannon partners Mary Inman and Henry Su, alongside two renowned journalists - Katherine Eban and Martin Bright, participated in a webinar on whistleblowing issues across the pond, which was moderated by Stuart Leach, Head of Litigation and Disputes at Montfort Communications and aired last week. The webinar focused on the differences in treatment of whistleblowers in both the U.S. and UK. Mary...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Importance of Whistleblowers, International Whistleblowers,

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