International Whistleblowers

January 10, 2022

The SEC has issued two awards totaling more than $4 million to three whistleblowers whose information and assistance helped bring about two successful enforcement actions.  In the first order, a single whistleblower who reported internally before providing significant new information to the agency on an existing investigation was awarded $2.6 million.  According to the SEC, the misconduct occurred overseas and would have been difficult to detect without the whistleblower’s tip.  In the second order, two whistleblowers received a joint award of $1.5 million for providing substantial ongoing assistance.  SEC

November 9, 2021

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a $24.3 million whistleblower award to Gwang Ho Kim, a former Hyundai safety engineer who provided critical information to NHTSA about safety defects in millions of Hyundai and Kia vehicles.  The award under the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act was made in connection with Hyundai and Kia’s 2020 agreement to pay combined penalties of up to $210 million. NHTSA.

Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors – Concealing safety defects ($210 million)

Constantine Cannon represented whistleblower Gwang Ho Kim, a former engineer at Hyundai who exposed Hyundai and Kia’s efforts to deceive U.S. vehicle safety regulators about safety defects affecting engines in millions of vehicles.  Hyundai and Kia agreed to pay combined penalties of $81 million (and up to $210 million), the largest penalties safety regulators have ever assessed against a carmaker, in connection with the misconduct Kim exposed. Kim’s $24.3 million award is first-ever monetary award made under the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act, which creates a whistleblower reward program to pay awards to auto-industry insiders who provide information to safety regulators about defects in vehicles. Under the program, auto-industry whistleblowers—who, like Kim, may be anywhere in the world—can protect the public by bringing to regulators critical information about disastrous safety defects. Read more: Award Press Release; Whistleblower Insider; NHTSA