According to an SEC press release, a recent whistleblower received $14 million dollars for assisting the SEC in an investigation. The unidentified whistleblower provided such assistance to the SEC that in less than six months, the SEC brought an enforcement action and was able to secure investor funds. This is the largest whistleblower award paid to date by the SEC.
Under the Dodd-Frank Act, whistleblowers are paid from a separate fund and the payment does not reduce the amount paid to those harmed or come from the agency’s annual appropriations, according to the SEC press release.
To receive a payment from the whistleblower program, a person must provide “high-quality original information that results in an SEC enforcement action with sanctions exceeding $1 million” and the awards “can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected in a case” according to the press release.
The whistleblower program started in 2011 and since then has paid out numerous awards to persons who have significantly assisted the SEC in securing investor funds and going after wrong doers. The law protects the identities of whistleblowers; the SEC cannot disclose any information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.
If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment, please contact Richard Frankowski at 205-747-1903 to discuss your potential legal remedies.