About Geoff Schweller
Geoff Schweller is the Communications Director for Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto (KKC). Geoff graduated from Hamilton College in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He is also the Assistant News Editor for Whistleblower Network News.
From the Whistleblower and Qui Tam Blog
New Director of IRS Whistleblower Office Overviews Whistleblower Program
On July 21, John Hinman, the recently appointed director of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Office, wrote a lengthy post for the IRS website’s “A Closer Look” series detailing the Whistleblower Office. The post outlines the IRS whistleblower process and highlights the importance of the program in the IRS’s enforcement efforts. Leading whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto described the posting as “a breath of fresh air for the IRS Whistleblower Program." He noted that previous information about the whistleblower program on the IRS site was less clear. “The IRS uses increasingly sophisticated data analytics and other methods to detect non-compliance with tax laws, but we can’t find it all by ourselves,” Hinman notes at the beginning of his posting. “We need help from whistleblowers – people with firsthand knowledge of non-compliance who are willing to share what they know with us so we can ...
SEC Whistleblower Receives $17 Million Award for Opening Investigation
On July 19, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a whistleblower award of more than $17 million to an individual who provided the agency with original information that led to both a successful SEC enforcement action and a successful related enforcement by another agency. Through the SEC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers, individuals who voluntarily provide the agency information which contributes to a successful enforcement action, are entitled to monetary awards of 10-30% of the funds collected in the enforcement action. Under the Dodd-Frank Act’s related action provisions, when a whistleblower's disclosure to the SEC also leads to a successful related enforcement action by another agency, the whistleblower is also entitled to a monetary award based on the sanctions collected in the related action. According to the award order, the whistleblower’s information “caused the staff to open the investigation that led to the Covered Action.” The whistleblower “also provided ...
A Bipartisan Whistleblower Bill Targets Wildlife Crime
Stephen M. Kohn, Esq. writes for Reuters outlining the massive impact a modern whistleblower award law could have in the enforcement of wildlife crime.
SEC Awards Over $6 Million to Two Whistleblowers
On July 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced two whistleblower awards totaling more than $6 million. Each whistleblower provided the SEC with original information that led to a successful enforcement action. In the first order, the SEC awarded over $3 million to a whistleblower. The whistleblower was an outsider solicited to invest in a product that they believed was being misrepresented. According to the SEC, the whistleblower “expeditiously contacted Commission staff to alert them of the conduct,” and the whistleblower’s “information prompted the opening of an investigation.” During the ensuing investigation, the whistleblower remained in contact with SEC staff. In the second order, the SEC also awarded over $3 million to a whistleblower. This whistleblower was an insider who “raised concerns internally, and thereafter submitted a detailed tip that prompted the opening of the investigation, met with the Enforcement staff multiple times, identified key witnesses and documents, ...
IRS Whistleblower Office’s Latest Report Underscores Urgency of Reforms
This article originally appeared on JD Supra. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program revolutionized tax fraud enforcement. Since the program was established in 2006, whistleblowers have contributed to the successful collection of $6.39 billion from non-compliant taxpayers. Correspondingly, the IRS has granted over $1 billion in whistleblower awards to brave individuals who have come forward with information about tax fraud. Despite the program’s success, the need for reforms has been evident for years. In June of 2021, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who crafted the 2006 legislation establishing the IRS Whistleblower Program, introduced the bipartisan IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act of 2021 alongside Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). The bill makes several reforms to the IRS Whistleblower Program in order to improve the program’s operations and better protect whistleblowers who expose tax fraud. At the time of the bill’s introduction, Grassley noted that while “the IRS whistleblower program has been a genuine success for American taxpayers,” it needs ...
AML Whistleblower Reform Bill Passes House Committee
On June 22, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services voted unanimously by voice to approve H.R. 7195, a bill amending the whistleblower provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act). The AML Act established a whistleblower award program for money laundering whistleblowers but major loopholes have undermined the program. H.R. 7195 closes these loopholes. “This bipartisan, bicameral legislation provides a proven solution to improving the whistleblower fund of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN),” said Representative Alma Adams (D-NC) the principal sponsor of the bill. “FinCEN’s whistleblower fund was designed to pay awards to the brave souls who too often risk their livelihoods and their lives to report criminal wrongdoing that they witness. Unfortunately, we have found that FinCEN’s award model which we implemented in 2020 AMLA has been so far insufficient to meet the statutory requirements. So I’m proud to say this legislation brings FinCEN’s fund ...