Whistleblowers Risked Careers for Mortgage Settlement

Chalk up another top news story to the whistleblowers.

Today, federal and state officials announced a $25 billion landmark settlement with the America’s five largest mortgage servicers, an agreement that would not be possible without contributions from employees who first exposed the banks’ wrongdoing.

At this point, the whistleblowers who exposed how mortgage lenders fueled the housing bubble and the subsequent financial meltdown still remain anonymous. The False Claims Act protects their identities by allowing them to pursue cases under "seal," so the full scope of their contributions will not be known until the cases conclude or the courts take them out of seal.

Dave Colapinto explains in more detail how the False Claims Act protects whistleblowers in today’s National Whistleblowers Center press release.

How many whistleblowers were there, and how high up were their positions in the banks? Whistleblower Protection Blog readers will be among the first to know when the cases come out of seal, but for now feel free to speculate in the comments.