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
SEC Awards $500,000 to Whistleblower After Waiving TCR Filing Requirement
On April 27, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a $500,000 whistleblower award to an individual who voluntarily provided the agency with original information that led to a successful enforcement action. In issuing the award, the SEC waived its TCR filing requirement. Through the SEC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers are entitled to awards of 10-30% of the sanctions collected by the SEC in the relevant enforcement action. In order to qualify for an award, a whistleblower must file a formal TCR with the SEC within 30 days of first contacting the agency about the misconduct. The SEC has the discretionary authority to waive the TCR requirement in instances where it “would be in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors for the Commission” to do so. In this case, the SEC waived the TCR requirement in light of a number of factors outlined in the ...
Leading Whistleblower Attorneys File Brief Calling for De Novo Review of IRS Whistleblower Award Claims
The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) has filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit arguing for a de novo standard of review in tax whistleblower award claim appeals. The brief was written by Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto (KKC) founding partner Stephen M. Kohn alongside Dean Zerbe of Zerbe, Miller, Fingeret, Frank & Jadav. The brief was filed in the case of Lissack v. Commissioner, which concerns the denial of a whistleblower award under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program. The IRS denied the award claim of a whistleblower who reported improper tax deductions made by a condominium development corporation. According to the IRS, the $60 million in unpaid taxes collected by the agency from the company did not stem from the specific allegation made by the whistleblower. The whistleblower appealed this decision to the U.S. Tax Court which upheld the denial. The ...
SEC Awards $6 Million to Five Whistleblowers
On April 25, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued approximately $6 million in whistleblower awards to two groups of whistleblowers, comprised of five individuals total. Both groups of whistleblowers provided the SEC with information and assistance that contributed to the success of the same enforcement action. According to the award order, the first group “provided staff with key documents that led the staff to seek additional documents from the respondent, which formed the core of the Commission’s case.” That group also provided the SEC with ongoing assistance throughout the investigation. This included “providing documents and information to assist the staff’s understanding of the respondent’s business practices,” according to the SEC. The second group provided the SEC with first-hand accounts of the wrongdoing and was familiar with systems and business processes involved in the misconduct. According to the award order, the second group “was also interviewed by the staff ...
SEC Awards $580,000 to Whistleblower for Providing Significant Information and Assistance
On April 21, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a $580,000 award to a whistleblower who voluntarily provided the agency with original information that contributed to the success of an enforcement action. According to the SEC, the whistleblower’s information and assistance “were significant in that they helped the staff to more efficiently and quickly conduct the investigation.” Through the SEC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers, individuals who voluntarily provide the SEC original information that leads to a successful enforcement action, are entitled to a monetary award of 10-30% of funds recovered by the government. The SEC weighs a number of factors when determining the exact percentage to award a whistleblower. These include positive factors like degree of further assistance provided by the whistleblower and the amount of law enforcement interest in the case, as well as negative factors like culpability and unreasonable delay in reporting. In this case, the ...
What Makes a Whistleblower Award Law Successful?
Stephen M. Kohn, Esq. writes for Reuters talking about the elements of a successful whistleblower award law. Since 1987, in cases triggered by whistleblowers, over $100 billion has been collected in fines, penalties, and voluntary compliance payments from fraudsters, money launderers, and tax evaders.
SEC Issues Three Whistleblower Awards Totaling Over $1 Million
On April 18, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued three separate whistleblower awards totaling over $1 million. Each of the awarded whistleblowers voluntarily provided the SEC with original information that contributed to the success of an enforcement action. Through the SEC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers are entitled to awards of 10-30% of the funds collected by the SEC in the relevant enforcement action. The SEC has awarded over $1.2 billion to over 250 individual whistleblowers since issuing its first award in 2012. One of the awards issued by the SEC on April 18 was a $700,000 award granted to joint whistleblowers. The whistleblowers provided the SEC with original information and the SEC subsequently passed this information along to another agency. The whistleblowers’ information led to the successful enforcement of actions by both the SEC and the other agency. Under the Dodd-Frank Act’s related action provisions, the whistleblowers ...