SEC Issues $50,000 as Part of First Whistleblower Program Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced last week that the first payout from the new SEC Whistleblower Program will be awarded to a whistleblower that helped the government stop a multi-million dollar fraud. The whistleblower will receive nearly $50,000, or thirty percent of the amount collected by the SEC.

While the SEC did not announce the name of the whistleblower or the company in question, the agency did announce that thanks to the documents and information provided by the whistleblower, the SEC was able to accelerate the investigation which led to a court ordering more than $1 million in sanctions. Thus far, approximately $150,000 has been collected, with nearly $50,000 set aside as a reward for the whistleblower.

SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro, who advocated the SEC Whistleblower Program, stated:

“The whistleblower program is already becoming a success… we’re seeing high-quality tips that are saving our investigators substantial time and resources.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm is a leader in the field of whistleblower protection law and has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have exposed illegal activity by their employer.

Tagged: Enforcement Bodies, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)