This archive includes posts from our “Top Ten” series, in which the Whistleblower Insider blog reviews notable government enforcement actions and whistleblower news – not always in groups of ten. Return to:
Tax fraud can take many forms, but each form results in shortchanging government coffers. More seriously, with our tax system depending heavily on taxpayers’ willingness to voluntarily file tax returns and pay taxes, tax fraud undermines confidence in the system. Enforcement of tax laws builds confidence in the system, and deserves to be a law enforcement priority.
The top tax recoveries in 2022 start with...
Top Ten Federal Financial and Healthcare Fraud Prison Sentences of 2022
Posted 02/2/23
Financial and healthcare fraud often can carry stiff monetary penalties for entities facing government enforcement, as shown on our other Top Ten Lists. Whistleblowers reporting wrongful conduct under one of the federal whistleblower reward laws sometimes find that criminal authorities are as interested in their allegations as civil enforcement agencies and authorities. Fraud can also result in criminal charges and...
In 2022, the SEC and CFTC redoubled their efforts to preserve market integrity and shut down financial frauds. Both in size and composition, the agencies’ major recoveries look quite different from a year prior. 2021 was all about crypto, with four of the top ten recoveries relating to crypto offerings or exchanges. With the recent collapse of the crypto market—exposing some of the biggest frauds since the...
2022 was a big year for whistleblowers, who once again recouped billions of government dollars and in turn received hundreds of millions in whistleblower rewards. This year’s top rewards came from various government whistleblower programs, including the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act, various state False Claims Act programs, and the Dodd-Frank SEC Whistleblower Program.
Below is a...
Top Ten Federal Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2022
Posted 02/1/23
Federal enforcement of financial fraud takes many forms. This year, thanks to positive developments in the world of money-laundering enforcement, we have expanded our Top Ten Lists related to federal financial fraud. In addition to documenting SEC and CFTC enforcement actions, FCPA enforcement, and money-laundering enforcement, the following list focuses on financial fraud in other realms.
The Consumer Financial...
State and local governments play a critical role in ensuring that businesses and individuals are held accountable if they commit healthcare fraud, financial fraud, government contract fraud, and more. For whistleblowers, state governments can offer additional opportunities to report wrongdoing.
Where government funds are at stake – and state and local government spending reaching $3 trillion annually – more...
In recent years, the United States government has recovered billions of dollars going after companies that bribe foreign officials in order to further their business interests, a practice that violates the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Two principal United States government agencies, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, investigate and prosecute FCPA violations. Whistleblowers...
Top Ten Money Laundering Enforcement Actions of 2022
Posted 01/10/23
2022 was a big year for money-laundering enforcement. It marked the first full year that the new FinCEN money laundering whistleblower office was up and running. And, even more remarkably, by the end of the year, the FinCEN program expanded to welcome whistleblowers with information related to sanctions violations after Constantine Cannon attorneys called for this legal change following the Russian invasion of...
Consistent with the trend in prior years, 2022 saw government enforcement agencies taking aim at fraud and false claims in healthcare. As the cost of healthcare rises along with its share of the U.S. economy, the enforcement focus on healthcare fraud is likely to accelerate. And, as always, the role of whistleblowers will be critical, as demonstrated by the dominance of cases originated by whistleblowers under the...