Becoming a whistleblower can be rewarding, both in terms of helping the government to recover funds and hold wrongdoers accountable, and in terms of monetary rewards provided to whistleblowers by government agencies. Each whistleblower program listed below offers rewards when reporting leads to a significant recovery.

WHAT REWARDS DOES THE FALSE CLAIMS ACT OFFER WHISTLEBLOWERS?

Whistleblowers who report fraud under the False Claims Act are entitled to a sizable reward if their reporting leads to a large recovery. Reward amounts differ based on a variety of factors, including whether or not the government chooses to join the case. Generally, a whistleblower recovers between 15 and 30 percent of the recovered amount. Some cases have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for the government, and whistleblowers have been rewarded hundreds of millions of dollars in return. If the government declines the whistleblower’s lawsuit, and the whistleblower proceeds against the defendant, the percentage of the potential reward increases.

WHAT SEC AND CFTC WHISTLEBLOWER REWARDS EXIST?

Reporting fraud under the SEC or CFTC programs can lead to significant whistleblower rewards. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are directed by Congress to provide monetary awards to eligible individuals who come forward with high-quality original information that leads to an enforcement action in which more than $1,000,000 is recovered by the Commission. Certain factors will be considered to determine the reward, including the significance of the information provided, assistance provided by the whistleblower and the whistleblower's attorney and the programmatic interest of the Commission in deterring violations.

HOW ARE IRS WHISTLEBLOWERS REWARDED?

The IRS Whistleblower Office pays money to those who report on entities failing to pay the tax they owe. If the IRS uses information provided by the whistleblower, it can award the whistleblower up to 30 percent of the additional tax, penalty and other amounts it collects. Payments of awards will not be made until after the taxes and penalties that are finally determined to be owed to the IRS have been collected.

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