In August, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. So far, the program has received over 200 whistleblower tips according to a DOJ official.
On October 23, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller delivered remarks at the New York City Bar Association Compliance Institute.
“In the first few months of the Justice Department’s whistleblower awards program, we’ve already received more than 200 tips,” he stated.
He also spoke to the Justice Department’s thinking behind establishing a corporate whistleblower award program, noting “First, whistleblowing. We know it works. Whistleblower reports to the government lead to prosecutions and civil enforcement actions. Internal reports help companies address misconduct before it gets out of hand.
“But gaps in whistleblower reporting opportunities left whole areas of corporate criminal misconduct unaddressed, with potential whistleblowers lacking a clear reporting path and a clear reason to blow the whistle,” Miller continued.
Under the DOJ Whistleblower Program, individuals who voluntarily provide the DOJ with original information about “significant corporate or financial misconduct” that is under the jurisdiction of the DOJ and not covered by other whistleblower award programs may qualify for monetary awards that are a percentage of any resulting forfeiture.
The program was inspired by other successful whistleblower award programs such as the SEC Whistleblower Program and whistleblower advocates urged the DOJ to model their program off these established programs. However, the DOJ program differs in a number of ways.
According to leading whistleblower attorney, Stephen M. Kohn these differences, including the lack of mandatory awards, limits on award amounts and exclusion of culpable whistleblowers, will undermine the program and limit its success.
“The Justice Department adopted proposals long sought after by Wall Street special interests and the Chamber of Commerce and created a program that delivered on the corporate wish-list for undercutting the effectiveness of whistleblower award programs,” Kohn wrote in an article published in the National Law Review in August. “By making the program discretionary, capping the amount of awards, blocking the best informants from coverage, and placing a major caveat on the right to file anonymous claims, the Justice Department’s program runs counter to the significant amount of empirical evidence concerning the specific policies and procedures necessary to operate a successful program. Worse still, it creates a dangerous precedent for future whistleblower laws.”
Further Reading:
New DOJ Whistleblower Program Highly Flawed According to Experts