ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Securities and Exchange Commission Pays Out Millions in Whistleblower Awards
Fiscal Year 2018 was a record-breaking year for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower program, both in amounts recovered and rewards to whistleblowers. In fact, the SEC awarded more dollars in 2018 ($168 million) to whistleblowers than in all prior years of the program combined. In order to obtain a reward, whistleblower information of fraud must be original and cannot be derived from publicly available sources. Insiders are those most likely to have original information of securities fraud and a whistleblower who provides information to the SEC cannot be discharged, demoted, suspended, or threatened by an employer. Anti-retaliation protection is a critical component of the SEC Whistleblower Program according to Jane Norberg, who heads the SEC whistleblower office.
If you have original information of securities fraud, we recommend you call counsel to file an anonymous tip and potentially secure an award of up to 30% of any amount the SEC recovers. The California and San Francisco whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. can represent you before the SEC. If you have credible, original information of securities fraud in California call our California SEC whistleblower attorneys today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. The whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm know how best to organize your information and documentation and will guide your application from initial submission through investigation and discovery to trial or settlement. Our attorneys can also represent you in any action for wrongful termination or other retaliation in accordance with legal protections including SEC Commission Rule 240.21F-17.
SEC whistleblower cases include:
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- Issuer Reporting and Disclosure. Issuer misconduct involves accounting fraud, failure to disclose material facts, phony projections, and deceptive communications. These types of cases are very document-intensive and insider whistleblowers may have access to original information of fraud inaccessible to the SEC.
- Offering Frauds and Ponzi Schemes. Retail investors are the largest class of victimized investors in these schemes. Whistleblowers may spot misleading statements in offering memoranda and marketing materials.
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Most of these corrupt practices occur overseas where the SEC has less access to evidence. Insiders may have direct access to evidence of FCPA fraud. The largest SEC whistleblower award to date – $30 million – went to a foreign whistleblower with key information of FCPA violations.
Contact Us
Our California whistleblower attorneys handle all types of whistleblower cases. If you or someone you love has information regarding a whistleblower/qui tam case in San Francisco or elsewhere in California involving the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, False Claims Act cases, the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Office, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Office, the FINRA Whistleblower Office or other illegal activity, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other California whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys also have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through filing a complaint, investigation and discovery through trial or an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
