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Securities and Exchange Commission

In announcing its first two whistleblower awards of the year, the Securities and Exchange Commission notes:

As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that could reveal a whistleblower’s identity.

In one case, a whistleblower alerted the agency to a fraudulent scheme and received a share of the recovery — $277,000.  In another case, an investor alerted the SEC. That person was awarded $45,000.

The SEC also notes: All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violation.

We await action on proposed changes to the SEC whistleblower law that could hurt whistleblowers.

Nigeria

Worldwide, whistleblowers have much less protection than they do in the U.S. Nigeria, for example, did poorly on this week’s Corruption Perception survey, scoring a 26 out of 100. A new video from an ongoing anti-corruption effort tells the stories of several Nigerian whistleblowers.

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Continue Reading Whistleblower news round-up: DOD, SEC and all the way to Africa

Rep. Adam Schiff confirmed on ABC’s This Week that the Ukraine call whistleblower will testify before a Congressional committee. Lawmakers plan to ensure the anonymity of the witness,  said the California Democrat, who is chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

Adam Schiff

Now, we are taking all the precautions we can to make sure that …we allow that testimony to go forward in a way to protect the whistleblower’s identity. Because as you can imagine with the president issuing threats like we ought to treat these people who expose my wrongdoing as we used to treat traitors and spies and we used to execute traitors and spies, you can imagine the security concerns here.

Schiff also defended the whistleblower’s integrity and challenged those who say the complaint is based on hearsay.
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Continue Reading Whistleblower story dominates Sunday morning news

Nader in 2008

Scientific whistleblowers include drug reviewers, medical researchers, quality control monitors, and engineers. The recent emergence of Boeing whistleblowers demonstrates that we need more of the latter, says Ralph Nader. The legendary consumer advocate and founder of the consumer protection group Public Citizen writes in Scientific American that engineers are “often the first to notice waste, fraud and safety issues.”

Compared to the technologically stagnant dark days in the auto industry of cruel suppression of technical dissent over safety and toxic emissions … today’s engineers are working in an improved environment for taking their conscience to work. Yet much more remains to be done to safeguard the ability of engineers to speak truth to the powers-that-be.…

Continue Reading Ralph Nader says we need more engineering whistleblowers. Think Boeing

They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant. When information about corruption or other wrongdoing comes to light, that transparency results in accountability, both against those who are culpable and for those affected by it. Whistleblowers are the ones with that crucial information.

Maya Efrati head shot
Maya Efrati, National Whistleblower Center

Whistleblowers are people who bravely come forward with information about fraud, corruption, and other criminal behavior. A whistleblower may be anyone from an employee at a company who comes across fraud to a government employee who sees the law being disregarded and rights trampled to a member of an impacted community whose family is affected by environmental catastrophe because of negligence in the race for profit.

Despite enormous personal and professional risks, they bring to light what would otherwise remain hidden. Often, those who blow the whistle on wrongdoing are disparaged and retaliated against for their actions. Even still, they report such crime knowing they may lose their jobs and income, only to face a negative social stigma while fighting an uphill battle. For the sake of truth and transparency, they are willing to come forward, to step up, and to disclose what they know.

But at present our society does not honor whistleblowers, and because of that we don’t encourage them to step forward.
Continue Reading We Need To Change the Way We Talk About Whistleblowers

A man once called “America’s most famous whistleblower” has died at the age of 92. In 1968, A. Ernest Fitzgerald, a top financial manager for the Air Force, revealed a $2.3 billion cost overrun in the Air Forces’ Lockheed C-5 aircraft program. He did it before Congress and in defiance of his superiors.

From The Washington Post 

Under oath, he said the C-5A was $2 billion over budget. In testifying, Mr. Fitzgerald later said, he was merely “committing truth.” The revelation about the vast cost overruns made national headlines, stunning members of Congress as well as Mr. Fitzgerald’s superiors.

In 1996, he received the Paul H. Douglas Award, given each year to a “government official … whose public actions or writings have made a significant contribution to the practice and understanding of ethical behavior in government.”

A biography posted on the award program website described the retribution against Fitzgerald.…

Continue Reading A. Ernest Fitzgerald, once called “America’s most famous whistleblower,” dies at 92

International Anti-Corruption DayIn honor of International Anti-Corruption Day 2018 on December 9th, Maya Efrati, Policy Counsel for the National Whistleblower Center looks back at the past year to review the significant efforts made on behalf of whistleblowers around the world.

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The National Whistleblower Center (NWC), the nation’s top whistleblower advocacy group, has led the fight for whistleblower protections and rewards for over 30 years. This past year, the NWC frequently worked with anti-corruption activists and dedicated governments officials worldwide to help build effective anti-corruption programs as part of its outreach to international whistleblowers. The NWC understands that anti-corruption work can be most effective only when it is a unified global approach, as reflected in this year’s theme for International Anti-Corruption Day: “United Against Corruption”.
Continue Reading The National Whistleblower Center Leads Anti-Corruption Efforts Worldwide on Behalf of Whistleblowers

Wildlife whistleblowersThe International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) was formed in 1989 by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment on the need for greater collaboration between environmental compliance and enforcement actors globally. To date, it remains the only global organization focused exclusively on improving compliance with environmental law through effective compliance promotion and enforcement at all levels of governance. By partnering with the National Whistleblower Center, INECE hopes to help address the relationship between environmental crime, economic growth, and national security.…
Continue Reading Knowledge exchange at the forefront of environmental law enforcement

Dankse Bank Money-launderingA report released by Bloomberg today states that criminal investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice have contacted Deutsche Bank AG and Bank of America Corp. about transactions they handled for the small Danske Bank branch in Estonia that’s at the center of one of the biggest money-laundering investigations in history. The investigators are also questioning JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s work with the branch.
Continue Reading Justice Department Questioning Deutsche Bank, BofA & JPM Involvement Danske Money-Laundering Scandal

european-money-laundering
Photo credit: TaxRebate.org.uk

Washington, D.C. November 8, 2018. Organizers of the OffshoreAlert Conference announced that the leading whistleblower attorney in the United States, Stephen M. Kohn, will speak at next week’s conference in London held at Grange St. Paul’s Hotel, November 12-13. Kohn will give his presentation on Tuesday, November 13 at 1:15 pm.…
Continue Reading Top US Whistleblower Attorney to Speak at London Conference on Financial Fraud

State-Police-Car-Law-EnforcementOn October 3, 2018, the National Whistleblower Center (“NWC”)  filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Brandon Eller, an Idaho State Police (“ISP”) detective who blew the whistle on the cover-up of another deputy’s dangerous actions. While Eller received a jury reward for his actions, he has been denied funds for the emotional damages that he suffered as a direct result of ISP’s retaliatory actions.
Continue Reading Amicus Brief Filed in Support of Idaho State Police Whistleblower