$3 Billion Recovered in 2010 Proves that Whistleblowing Works

WEBWIRE – Monday, November 22, 2010

Washington, D.C. November 22, 2010. Today, the Department of Justice released that the government recovered $3 Billion from the False Claims Act in Fiscal Year 2010. In its press release the DOJ stated “most of the cases resulting in recoveries were brought to the government by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, the federal government’s primary weapon in the battle against fraud.” The DOJ acknowledged that whistleblowers (also known as “relators”) “face considerable personal risk in coming forward with allegations of fraud.”

Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center issued the following statement in response, "Once again the DOJ statistics prove that whistleblowing works. The False Claims Act recovers billions of dollars for taxpayers and deters future fraud against the federal government.”

Mr. Kohn added, “The release of the DOJ’s 2010 False Claims Act statistics are particularly timely because the Securities and Commodities Commissions are currently drafting rules to implement the Dodd-Frank whistleblower reward provisions, which are closely modeled after the False Claims Act. The Securities and Commodities Commissions need to utilize the same effective and powerful procedures if they expect their whistleblowers programs to be successful in stopping the next Bernie Madoff and recovering large amounts of money. As the DOJ recognizes, whistleblowers risk their careers when they report fraud and they deserve strong protections.”

Links:

Department of Justice Press Release on False Claims Act recoveries (November 22, 2010)

NWC Letter to the Chairman of the SEC on deficiencies in proposed whistleblower rules (November 22, 2010)

NWC Freedom of Information Act Request to SEC (November 22, 2010)

Action Alert to CFTC and SEC seeking public support

SEC Proposed Whistleblower Rules

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