Benjamin is an experienced associate attorney at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, representing whistleblowers in retaliation and award cases. Ben has filed award claims for whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank Act with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Similarly, he has filed tax evasion claims with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), money laundering/sanctions violations cases with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and False Claims Act cases in federal court. To date, whistleblowers Ben has represented have worked with the United States in recovering over $5 billion in sanctions.
Ben also is active in representing whistleblowers who have suffered retaliation, including cases filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and arbitration cases under FINRA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution. Ben has developed expertise in combating illegal non-disclosure agreements and representing clients in cryptocurrency claims.
An accomplished speaker, Ben has been a featured presenter at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ White Collar Crime Conference, Anti-Fraud Coalition’s Annual Conference, and Whistleblower UK’s Whistleblower Awareness Week held in London, among others. He is also a member of the Whistleblower UK’s attorneys committee.
Ben has also published extensive articles in publications such as the Financial Times, Oxford Business Law Blog, Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement, Law360, and National Law Review.
Ben served as Co-Counsel for OpenAI whistleblowers with illegally restrictive non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that prevented OpenAI employees from bringing information on dangers of AI to regulators. Provided an analysis of how the NDAs violated Rule 21F-17(a), which was used by Senator Grassely’s office to apply Congressional pressure to end this practice by OpenAI.
The complaint led to the successful resolution of the case, with OpenAI releasing employees from their NDAs. See Pranshu Verma, Cat Zakrzewski, and Nitasha Tiku, OpenAI Illegally Barred Staff from Airing Safety Risks, Whistleblowers Say, Washington Post (Jul. 13, 2024); See Pranshu Verma, Cat Zakrzewski, and Nitasha Tiku, Senator Calls Grow for OpenAI to Prove It’s Not Silencing Staff, Washington Post (Aug. 2, 2024).
Ben represented a whistleblower at a cryptocurrency exchange bringing money laundering, sanctions violations, and terrorist financing concerns to investigators from the Department of Justice (DOJ), CFTC, Office of Foreign Asset Controls, and FinCEN, which successfully led to multiple very large sanctions against the cryptocurrency exchange.
Ben has argued successfully against the IRS in US Tax Court for the confidentiality protections of international IRS whistleblower with a major successful money laundering case.
Ben has represented a team of international investigative journalists investigating a money laundering scheme by a major international corporation.
Ben represents an international engineering whistleblower in bringing information on unsafe vehicles made by Vietnamese electric car company VinFast to US agencies including SEC and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). See Andy Verity, Electric Car Whistleblower Sacked by Jaguar Land Rover, BBC (Dec. 18, 2024).
Ben represents whistleblowers in False Claims Act cases that are Under Seal in multiple jurisdictions.
Ben has brought a retaliation claim for a whistleblower under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for their termination after internal whistleblowing at the company.
Ben has also represented a whistleblower in Finra Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Benjamin was invited to speak at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ White Collar Crime Conference on how compliance officials can navigate blowing the whistle and discussing the effects of non-disclosure agreements for whistleblowing.
Benjamin was invited to speak on multiple panels at the WhistleblowerUK’s Whistleblower Awareness Week, where he discussed the value and success of US style whistleblower reward programs and how international whistleblowers, including from the UK, can utilize the US programs.
Benjamin spoke on the Legal Panel at Whistleblowers of America’s Workplace Promise Institute Conference about how whistleblowers can utilize whistleblower reward laws and the economic theory on why these programs are so effective at combatting white collar crime and corruption.
Ben presented to an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) group, organized by the US Department of State, consisting of anti-corruption advocates from around the world who were selected by the State Department to receive the 2023 Anti-Corruption Champions award, regarding the transnational use of US whistleblower programs.
Ben has been a presenter for Anti-Fraud Coalition events including discussing ethical marketing for lawyers and firms, at both the TAF 24th Annual Conference and the TAF Young Lawyers Division Conference; organizing and presenting in the webinar: Financial Frauds 101 – Year in Review for the TAF Young Lawyers Division; and moderating a webinar discussing the representation of international whistleblowers.
JD Supra
- FinCEN’s New Rules for Reporting Beneficial Owners Create Opportunity for Whistleblowers (December 22, 2023)
- The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Program Is Woefully Inadequate (March 16, 2023)
- As ESG Investments Continue to Rise, Whistleblowers are Critical to Uncovering Fraud (December 7, 2021)
- New Cop on a Bigger Block: The CFTC Steps into Enforcement of Anti-Corruption in Commodities Markets with Vitol Settlement. (November 1, 2021)
- The Real Effect of the False Claims Amendment Act of 2021 (October 27, 2021)
- Over $100 Million Awarded to Whistleblowers from CFTC Enforcement Actions (October 6, 2021)
Law360
- IRS Sings New Tune: Whistleblower Form Update Is Welcome (April 19, 2024)
- UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason (March 5, 2024)
National Law Review:
- New Record for Number of Employees Affected by Rule 21F-17(a) Violations Does Not Lead to Increase in Sanctions Against CBRE (September 20, 2023)
- A Whistleblower’s Guide to Reporting on Crypto (May 2, 2023)
NYU Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement:
- CFTC Begins Its Enforcement of NDA Rule with Action Against Trafigura (September 6, 2024)
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Stands Up to Protect Whistleblowers from Overly Broad NDAs (August 29, 2024)
- SEC Continues to Elevate its Enforcement of Rule 21F-17(a) (February 11, 2024)
- $10 Million Penalty Against D.E. Shaw a Major Step in SEC’s Enforcement of Rule 21F-17(a) (December 5, 2023)
- SEC Takes First Rule 21F-17(a) Action Against Private Company (October 13, 2023)
Banking Risk & Regulation, Culture & Conduct, Opinion:
- What the US can teach the UK on whistleblowing (July 28, 2025)
Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog:
Benjamin has written a series of articles on whistleblowing in the United Kingdom. Which has been published by Financial Times, Oxford Business Law Blog and Law 360. See Benjamin Calitri, What the US Can Teach the UK on Whistleblowing, Financial Times (Jul. 28, 2025); Benjamin Calitri, Key Tenets of Whistleblower Rewards Programs for the UK to Follow, Oxford Business Law Blog (Dec. 1, 2025); Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves, UK Whistleblower Reform is Crucial for Global Anti-Corruption Enforcement, Oxford Business Law Blog (Apr. 23, 2025); Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves, UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason, Law360 (Mar. 5, 2024).
Ben is also currently writing a series of articles on the importance of confidentiality protections for whistleblowers, which explain the confidentiality protections available to whistleblowers under various programs. See Benjamin Calitri, Cole Nemes, Jacob Rusting and Alice Wanamaker, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto Discusses Confidentiality Protections for Whistleblowers, Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog (Oct. 7, 2025); Benjamin Calitri, Cole Nemes, Jacob Rusting and Alice Wanamaker, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto Discusses IRS and False Claims Act Confidentiality-Protections for Whistleblowers, Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog (Nov. 26, 2025).
Ben has written extensively on the enforcement against NDAs, including through the SEC’s Rule 21F-17 and related rules from the CFTC. See Benjamin Calitri, CFTC Begins Its Enforcement of NDA Rule with Action Against Trafigura, New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement (Sept. 6, 2024); Benjamin Calitri, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Stands Up to Protect Whistleblowers from Overly Broad NDAs, New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement (Aug. 29, 2024); Benjamin Calitri, SEC Continues to Elevate its Enforcement of Rule 21F-17(a), New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement (Feb. 11, 2024); Benjamin Calitri, $10 Million Penalty Against D.E. Shaw a Major Step in SEC’s Enforcement of Rule 21F-17(a), New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement (Dec. 5, 2023); Benjamin Calitri, SEC Takes First Rule 21F-17(a) Action Against Private Company, New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement (Oct. 13, 2023).