Leading Whistleblower Attorney Speaks at ICLE Convention on Whistleblowing Retaliation
On June 18, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto founding partner David K. Colapinto presented on a panel on Whistleblowing, Retaliation, and CEPA for the New Jersey State Bar Continuing Legal Education program. Throughout his presentation, Colapinto noted the importance of whistleblowers and highlighted key laws, programs, and protections in place.
Since 1989, the Department of Justice has paid over $8.9 billion to whistleblowers based on $52.75 billion in recoveries. All of these regulatory schemes were prosecuted under the False Claims Act, which was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The False Claims Act has served as a model for all other current reward laws and programs pertaining to whistleblowers. Some of these laws and forums include the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act and the whistleblower programs at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Internal Revenue Service.
Colapinto noted that, “Whistleblowers are the driving factors behind these investigations,” sharing a graphic illustrating that 42% of the tips for the detection of fraud are coming from whistleblowers. Furthermore, whistleblowers are the leading source of bribery allegations in successfully prosecuting Foreign Corrupt Practice Act cases initiating 40% of investigations.
Colapinto shared some of his best practice tips for whistleblower counselors, explaining how to best present a client by preparing to front load investigators with valuable documentation and transactions. He also advised attendees to stay up to date with filing forms as it is“very important to develop good relationships with the government investigators.”
Closing out his presentation, Colapinto described the key provisions of retaliation laws, emphasizing the rule implemented by the SEC under Dodd-Frank that prevents corporations from impeding an individual communication with the government.
Colapinto is a nationally recognized advocate for whistleblowers specializing in qui tam False Claims Act cases and other whistleblower reward claims before the SEC, CFTC, IRS and FinCen.
