Constantine Cannon's Liz Soltan Featured in The Hill Discusses Protecting FinCEN Whistleblowers
Constantine Cannon Whistleblower associate Elizabeth “Liz” Soltan is featured in The Hill with an op-ed on remuneration for whistleblowers under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) whistleblower program. FinCEN whistleblowers help fight money laundering and sanctions evasion.
The FinCEN program is in its early days and has not published regulations. It may be modeled on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s successful whistleblower program, which began in 2010. Ms. Soltan writes that FinCEN can improve upon the SEC program by making sure its own rules provide limited retroactive award eligibility to “avoid letting brave but calendrically unlucky whistleblowers fall through the cracks.”
Ms. Soltan argues that whistleblowers who made tips to the government before the FinCEN Office of the Whistleblower “covered the tips’ subject matter but who sparked investigations that concluded after it did” should be eligible for awards. “Regardless of when they take the bold step of contacting the government, whistleblowers risk financial and emotional ruin — and sometimes even their physical safety — to bring truth to light. Retroactive award eligibility recognizes that fact.”
Many whistleblowers face retaliation and blacklisting in their industries after they come forward to report fraud. Awards help them and their families survive financially in the face of that risk. “If the only way to bring forward information were to jump out of a plane with documents, a reward provides whistleblowers with a parachute. For those who took the leap before there was a parachute in their size, retroactive award eligibility can put out a safe landing pad.”
Read the full article here.
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