Global Anti-Corruption Champions Discuss U.S. Whistleblower Laws

In early December, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto (KKC) staff spoke with anti-corruption advocates from around the world selected by the U.S. Department of State to receive the 2023 Anti-Corruption Champions award. The lecture marked KKC’s 9th and final International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) event of 2023.

KKC whistleblower attorney Benjamin Calitri spoke to the group about why the anonymity and reward provisions in transnational U.S. whistleblower programs transform reporting. He then gave an overview of how individuals like themselves could report corruption using these laws.

During the Q&A and discussions segment, participants shared whistleblower initiatives they have worked to spearhead. Nikhil Dey, for instance, has worked to secure the Right to Information in India, which makes transparent the distribution of public funds, enabling the public to blow the whistle on incidents of bribery and embezzlement.

Participants also raised concerns about the efficacy of reward laws outside the financial sector. Arturo Torres told the story of a 2018 kidnapping of a journalist, photographer, and driver in Ecuador. After about a year of investigation, a whistleblower contacted him saying he had information about the whereabouts of the agents, but he would need protection and a reward to make the risk of reporting worth it. Torres wondered how a whistleblower reward system could work in this type of case.

Calitri explained that wherever there will be a monetary sanction, including fining a person or recovering any assets, there is opportunity for a whistleblower reward. The United States has seen the reward system work outside of the financial sector, such as for whistleblowing on wildlife trafficking to the Fish & Wildlife Service.

Additionally, he added, “the crimes we typically think of as non-financial, such as those categorized as environmental crimes or human rights crimes, typically have huge financial incentives behind them.”

A key takeaway from the discussion was the way in which implementing reward and anonymity provisions fundamentally transforms the risk dynamic of whistleblowing. Many of the Anti-Corruption Champions’ home countries have whistleblower protection laws, which technically entitle whistleblowers to protection but in reality, do little to protect whistleblowers. Ali Toktakunov explained how in the Kyrgyz Republic, a whistleblower could be shot and killed after a report.

In other countries, there are virtually no protections at all. Jean-Claude Mputu said that the DRC’s proposed whistleblower law is so bad that many believe it is better for it not to pass at all.

The bottom line, according to Calitri, is that the best way to protect a whistleblower is to (1) make sure nobody knows who they are and (2) create a system that incentivizes whistleblowers to come forward. So long as they are not protected by their own country’s whistleblower laws, international whistleblowers can continue to utilize transnational U.S. laws.

At the conclusion of their week in DC, the Anti-Corruption Champions were honored in a ceremony with Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.

The group then traveled to Atlanta, where they were recognized at the 10th Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption.