DOJ Unveils Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program
On August 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled its pilot whistleblower program, which it had previewed in an announcement five months before.
The program is authorized by a longstanding law that allows the Attorney General to pay awards for information or assistance leading to criminal or civil forfeitures (28 U.S.C. § 524(c)). Whistleblowers can now provide the government with information regarding certain types of corporate crime by visiting the Department’s website at justice.gov/CorporateWhistleblower.
If the Department uses the information to obtain a criminal or civil forfeiture of at least $1 million, the whistleblower may be eligible to receive, at the Department’s sole discretion, an award of up to 30% of the first $100 million of forfeiture and 5% of any additional forfeiture between $100 million and $500 million — or a maximum potential award of $55 million. There is a “presumption” that the Department will award 30% of the first $10 million, subject to discretionary factors governing the availability or size of the award, such as the extent of the whistleblower’s involvement in the wrongdoing or an unreasonable delay in reporting.
The information provided must relate to any of the following activities:
- Violations by financial institutions (e.g., banks or cryptocurrency firms), including schemes involving money laundering, fraud, or non-compliance with financial regulations.
- Violations involving corporations related to foreign corruption or bribery, including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, and money laundering statutes.
- Violations involving corporations relating to the payment of bribes or kickbacks to domestic public officials.
- Fraud schemes involving private or other non-public healthcare benefit programs and insurers. (Government healthcare programs are already covered by qui tam whistleblower actions under the False Claims Act.)
Whistleblowers are eligible for an award only if they are individuals who have not “meaningfully participated” in, or “knowingly profit[ed]” from, the alleged misconduct. In addition, the information must relate to misconduct not already covered by the False Claims Act qui tam law or a whistleblower program at another government agency — e.g., the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, or the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (If the whistleblower is unsure whether to apply to the Department’s program or to another agency’s program, the Department suggests applying to both so that it can “determine” whether the Department’s program applies.)
Like other whistleblower programs, the Department’s program adopts a “first in the door” rule: whistleblowers are eligible for an award only if they provide “original,” non-public information that the government has not previously obtained from another whistleblower or from its own investigations. It is important therefore to consult promptly with experienced whistleblower counsel if you have information that may be of interest to the Department. Notably, information may qualify as “original” even if it is derived from publicly available information (e.g., data available on the internet) if the whistleblower’s analysis, examination, and evaluation “reveals information that is not generally known or available to the public.”
It is also notable that, at least initially, a whistleblower may submit information anonymously if he or she is represented by an attorney.
Getnick Law is one of the nation’s preeminent whistleblower practices, having recovered more than $1 billion for the government and record awards for its clients. To contact a Getnick Law attorney to discuss whistleblower representation, please click HERE.