Whistleblower News From The Inside -- March 13, 2018

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

CFTC Moves to Cement Authority Over Crypto Fraud Cases – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is moving quickly to assert its jurisdiction to police fraud in the cryptocurrency industry. Just two days after U.S. Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York ruled in favor of the CFTC, affirming its definition of cryptocurrency as a commodity, the regulator gave notice of “supplemental legal authority” to My Big Coin Pay Inc – a crypto services company it charged with fraud and misappropriation of funds in January. CoinDesk

The Morning Risk Report: Ireland Leads Europe in Whistleblower Protections – Ireland ranks first in the European Union in protections for whistleblowers, achieving a score of 66.7% in results published Monday,  compared with 22.9% for countries within the bloc as a group. The figures are part of a broad overview of whistleblower protections by advocacy organizations Blueprint for Free Speech and A Change of Direction. The research ranks the countries’ whistleblower policies against nine European and international standards. WSJ

Intel Community Whistleblower Ombudsman Formally Fired – Longtime national security whistleblower specialist Dan Meyer finally got the word last week that he was officially out as intelligence community whistleblower ombudsman in the inspector general’s office. The long-threatened decision not to extend his probationary period was first put forward by acting intelligence community IG Wayne Stone, but was formally implemented by Sue Gordon, principal deputy director of national intelligence, following the convening of two review boards. Government Executive