On July 30, whistleblowers, whistleblower advocates, and government officials will gather on Capitol Hill for the National Whistleblower Center’s annual National Whistleblower Day celebration.
Among the speakers will be Cynthia Lie, the Acting Director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Whistleblower Office. In that role, Lie oversees the CFTC Whistleblower Program, which offers monetary awards and anti-retaliation protections to whistleblowers reporting commodities fraud.
The CFTC Whistleblower Program has allowed the CFTC to recover over $3.2 billion from fraudsters since it was established in 2010. It has correspondingly awarded over $390 million to qualified whistleblowers. According to the CFTC, approximately 42% of all the agency’s enforcement actions involve whistleblowers.
In May, the CFTC announced a $700,000 whistleblower award granted to an individual who voluntarily provided original information that led to a successful enforcement action.
“The Whistleblower Office is committed to rewarding whistleblowers for their significant contributions in identifying fraud, manipulation, and abuse in commodity markets,” said Lie.
Previously, Lie served for 15 years at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving in units including the Fraud and Financial Crimes Unit, the Major Crimes Unit, and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. After her time at DOJ, she served as Deputy Counsel and then Division Chief for 6 years at the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General (OIG). She handled and oversaw sensitive investigations, including False Claims Act and other complex financial fraud cases. During her time with the OIG, Lie also ran two federal whistleblower programs.
Other speakers at National Whistleblower Day include two of whistleblowers’ leading champions in Congress: Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Grassley and Wyden are co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus and have sponsored a number of critical whistleblower laws.
More speakers are to be announced.
For more information about National Whistleblower Day (and to join the waitlist) visit: https://www.nationalwhistleblowerday.org/