It can be terrifying to become aware of fraud, especially when you are a federal civil servant who chose to work to help your fellow citizens. Choosing to expose that fraud and become a civil service whistleblower means risking your livelihood, friendship with colleagues, and financial security. Once you become a whistleblower and an investigation into the fraud commences, there is a serious chance that you will feel the wrath of those you have exposed. Loss of employment, punitive or disciplinary action, and defamation are just some of the forms of retaliation that whistleblowers sometimes experience.

Mississippi clients who are thinking of becoming civil service whistleblowers often ask about the retaliation. Luckily, the U.S. Merit System Personnel Board Whistleblower Program (MSPB) offers protections to those who expose waste, fraud, and abuse.  The following is from the MSPB whistleblower web site:

How does the MSPB protect whistleblowers?

Unlike many of the Merit System Principles, for which there is no specific law or regulation that allows an affected employee to appeal a violation, MSPB can order an agency to take corrective action for whistleblower retaliation. This would require an agency to place the whistleblower, as nearly as possible, in the position the individual would have been in had the prohibited personnel practice not occurred. The MSPB can even award the whistleblower back pay and certain reasonable and foreseeable consequential damages such as medical costs and travel expenses.  In some cases, it may also award attorney fees. More recently, with the enactment of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, the board was also authorized to award compensatory damages.

Accordingly, there are protections in place for civil servants who report fraud, waste, and abuse; however, those protections are only as good as those charged with enforcing them.

Ant-Retaliation Protection Takes Effect Upon Submission of a Claim

The anti-retaliatory protections of the MSPB whistleblower program should take effect as soon as you file a whistleblower claim.  It should not matter whether the MSPB ever investigates   or acts on the complaint.  However, once again, it is crucial that you submit your claim to the MSPB properly and on the correct forms.  Having experienced whistleblower counsel by your side to make that filing and ensure that the anti-retaliation protection kicks in is vital to protecting your livelihood.

The following recent decision out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals details how a whistleblower went unprotected, in part because his or her claim was not filed to the MSPB’s specifications.

Cautionary Tale of Whistleblower Retaliation

A federal appeals court has found that the MSPB took too narrow a view of whistleblower protections, agreeing with the Office of Special Counsel that an employee does not need to provide “precise” details of a claim in order to pursue a complaint of retaliation.

The case involved an employee who contended that he was fired in reprisal for his disclosures to his agency and its IG office regarding nepotism. However, the MSPB held that he had not informed the OSC of the details of those disclosures and thus had not exhausted his “administrative remedies” there, as required before filing a complaint directly with the MSPB. When he appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the OSC intervened on his side, arguing that the merit board had created a procedural hurdle for whistleblowers not in the law.

The court agreed, finding that the employee had provided the OSC with sufficiently detailed and clear notice” of the whistleblower retaliation claim to investigate. The court sent the case back to the MSPB to decide.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Are you considering filing a whistleblower case? To attain your compensation, you will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney to decide whether the conduct you have observed constitutes fraud. Evidence gathering, dealing with the federal government’s attorneys, important deadlines, and filing requirements make your representation both complex and time-sensitive.

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be a whistleblower.

Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

With the amount of press around Bitcoin’s meteoric rise and subsequent plummet, my future-looking clients here in Mississippi have asked me whether these “cryptocurrencies’” are subject to the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower program. The answer is that they may be. The SEC stated in a July 2017 investigative report that “virtual tokens and coins may be securities subject to federal securities laws.” What that means is that fraud occurring in the context of initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) or other aspects of the creation or management of crypto currencies may be subject to the SEC’s whistleblower program.

A New Form of Money: Blockchain Technology

To understand how a whistleblower action might be brought in relation to a cryptocurrency ICO, you first must understand a bit about how cryptocurrencies work. Unlike traditional currencies that are created or “minted” by a country and are tied to some national monetary policy, cryptocurrencies are secured by blockchain technology. The security of the blockchain is their foundation and is what gives them worth.

But what is blockchain? Blockchains are a secure, electronic way of recording individual transactions. Each block in a chain contains data about a transaction between individuals—every transaction, in turn, is recorded and reflects the previous transactions that came before. The foundation of blockchain technology is the “linked’ nature of a chain.  That linked nature creates a more secure environment for transactions, as it is not possible to change the records pertaining to a block, or record, in the extensive list of records without also altering all of the previous blocks. The blocks, in turn, are stored across a network of computers so that any change to the blocks would require complete coordination of those computers. This level of complexity also provides security. In the past, the strength of nations and their central banks acted as the foundation of a currency, now it is the strength of a currency’s computing capacity and mathematics.

Whistleblowers’ Roles in Blockchain ICO’s

Because of the somewhat mysterious nature of an ICO, the SEC has to rely on those working within the cryptocurrencies themselves to police them. The SEC’s whistleblower program allows those working within cryptocurrencies who have knowledge of securities violations to help the government stop fraud by offering a bounty equal to 10 to 30 percent of the penalties that the SEC collects if the total exceeds $1 million.

What Should You Do if You are Considering an ICO Whistleblower Claim?

For those working on ICO’s or within cryptocurrencies, the SEC is interested in knowing about fraud. There is more to filing a whistleblower case than just knowing about ICO fraud, however. All of the extensive rules that apply to the SEC whistleblower program will apply here as well. Specifically, you must have unique information that the SEC does not already have, and you must be the first to alert them to the fraud. To attain your compensation, you will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney to decide whether the conduct you have observed constitutes fraud. Evidence gathering, dealing with the federal government’s attorneys, important deadlines, and filing requirements make your representation both complex and time-sensitive. Barrett Law has this experience and is standing by to ease any concerns you may have about becoming a whistleblower.

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be an ICO or cryptocurrency whistleblower.

Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

A December 5, 2017, award by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) totaling $4.1 million dollars to a single whistleblower highlights the importance of whistleblowers to uncovering corporate corruption and the significant awards awaiting those willing to bring those behaviors to light. The SEC’s whistleblower program pays large awards to those who provide timely information resulting in a successful prosecution. A whistleblower may receive up to thirty percent of any sanction imposed on a corporation, and the sanctions are often in the millions of dollars.

If you are considering making an SEC whistleblower claim, you should understand the risks involved, including retaliation and loss of a career. Those risks are taken to achieve a significant reward, but the reward is not known until an investigation and successful prosecution. Accordingly, it is vital that you retain experienced whistleblower counsel to help you through this process so that the risks are mitigated and the reward is maximized.

The SEC could not do its work without whistleblowers.  The Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower Jane Norberg stated that the work of whistleblowers is evident in the “more than $671 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, much of which has been or is scheduled to be returned to harmed investors,” and recovered “based on actionable information from whistleblowers.” Overall, enforcement actions involving whistleblower awards have helped the SEC recover more than $1 billion in financial remedies.

Here is the exact language from the December SEC press release:

“The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $4.1 million to a former company insider who alerted the agency to a widespread, multi-year securities law violation and continued to provide important information and assistance throughout the SEC’s investigation.  The whistleblower is the third awarded by the SEC in the past week.

Company insiders often have valuable information that can help the SEC halt an ongoing securities law violation and better protect investors,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.  “The breadth of the SEC’s whistleblower program is demonstrated by this case, where the whistleblower, a foreign national working outside of the United States, affirmatively stepped forward to shine a light on the wrongdoing.”

The SEC’s whistleblower program has now awarded more than $179 million to 50 whistleblowers since issuing its first award in 2012.  All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards.

Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action.  Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.

By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Are you considering filing an SEC whistleblower case? You will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney to decide whether the conduct you have observed constitutes an SEC violation. Evidence gathering, dealing with the federal government’s attorneys, important deadlines, and filing requirements make your representation both complex and time-sensitive.

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be an SEC whistleblower.

Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

A recent Washington Post story about a Department of Justice False Claims Act prosecutor should send chills down the spine of any citizen and should be a black eye for the federal government. Former DOJ attorney Jeffrey Wertkin was arrested for trying to tip off companies that were being secretly investigated based on whistleblower tips.  His plan was to take on these companies as clients once he became a defense attorney in private practice.

As anyone who has considered making a whistleblower claim knows, there are tremendous risks involved. Having the DOJ—the attorneys sworn to prosecute these cases for the federal government—turn against you should not be one of those concerns. If you are a Mississippi whistleblower or think you may be, call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505.

As an attorney, Wertkin represented False Claims Act cases brought by the federal government after whistleblowers provided tips. As a result, he had access to secret files based on those tips against companies that were unaware of the government’s investigation and the whistleblowers working from within the companies. After prosecuting those cases for six years, he decided to leave the DOJ for a private law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. That transition, from prosecutor to defense attorney is not unusual, and the law, DOJ policy, and ethical rules would normally prohibit the attorney from ever working on a case in private practice that they had access to during their DOJ career.

What makes the Wertkin case particularly unusual is that he ignored the law, policies, and rules applying to ethical conduct and took a number of undisclosed, sealed investigations with him when he left the DOJ. He then, wearing a wig and fake mustache, engaged in a cloak and dagger scheme to tip off companies to their impending prosecution. His pitch to them was that he had inside information and could best represent them in his role as a partner at his new firm. Amazingly, he was caught in the act of trying to sell these secrets and admitted to his wrongdoing on the spot. In what is now seen as a tremendous lapse by law enforcement, he was then released, returned to his office at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and destroyed evidence of his crimes.

Obviously, Wertkin was looking to bring in clients and make money off of them, and his greed brought him down. He will be sentenced in March 2018 and will likely serve several years in jail. His punishment is a small part of this puzzle, however.

Wertkin’s acts cast a long shadow over the DOJ, and raise questions about DOJ attorney conduct. For example, is this a unique case, or have other former DOJ attorneys engaged in a similar pattern of conduct in the past? How many other of Wertkin’s cases were corrupted as a result of this conduct? Most importantly, each of these cases was the product of a brave whistleblower who took tremendous risks in an effort to help the federal government end fraud. Those cases are now likely irreparably harmed and will not result in any reward for the whistleblower. Should Wertkin’s misdeeds deny those whistleblowers the rewards that they are due? Taking these questions together, it is clear that Wertkin’s behavior undermines public trust in the False Claims Act process specifically and whistleblower protection in general.  What can and will the federal government due to rebuild that trust? Whistleblowers will only come forward if they have total confidence that the government will maintain their confidentiality.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Are you considering filing a whistleblower case? You will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney to decide whether the conduct you have observed constitutes fraud. Evidence gathering, dealing with the federal government’s attorneys, important deadlines, and filing requirements make your representation both complex and time-sensitive.

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be an IRS whistleblower.

Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

PART II

In the first half of this blog post, I reviewed how establishing material facts and determining your eligibility to make a whistleblower claim to the SEC are critical first steps in your case.  Now, I will go over three more vital steps to receiving a multi-million dollar SEC award.

Act Fast, Act First

The SEC has little use for “old news.”  You have an opportunitNewy to attain ten to thirty percent of any penalty the SEC collects from a company it successfully prosecutes, but only if you are the first to provide them with the tip that leads to that prosecution. You must consider that if you know of illegal activities at a corporation, others likely do as well. If you both become whistleblowers, only the first to tip off the SEC with that information will receive a reward, and the second to file may get nothing. While a second whistleblower may get some reward if their tip “significantly contributes” to the prosecution, there is no guarantee to those second or third in line.

Another consideration is how fast you acted on reporting illegal information once you became aware of it.  An award may be significantly reduced if a whistleblower only came forward once they know an investigation was imminent. Another reason for a reduction is when the whistleblower participated in the illegal activity and failed to stop it from occurring. Basically, the more culpable you are and the longer you delay due to your own participation in illegal acts, the more your reward may be reduced by the SEC.

Know the SEC’s Rules

Besides those listed above, there are other SEC rules affecting whether the SEC will increase or decrease your reward for whistleblowing. Some examples involving delay and culpability were discussed above that may reduce a reward. Similarly, your reward may be reduced if you were involved with disabling or improperly subverting a corporation’s compliance systems that would have normally caught the illegal activity in question.

With the help of experienced whistleblower counsel, you may also be able to increase the size of your award. For example, if you provide a significant tip that alerts the SEC to illegal conduct that they are particularly interested in policing, that may result in a more significant reward. Similarly, if you provide a significant amount of help to the SEC in either gathering evidence or prosecuting their case, your reward may be increased.

Your Whistleblower Tip Should be Attention-Grabbing

Like many government agencies, the SEC’s Whistleblower Office is tasked with doing a lot with a small staff.  They receive thousands of tips each year, but can only process a small fraction.  You are taking a great risk by filing a tip, so how do you make sure that risk generates a significant reward? Working alongside experienced whistleblower counsel, you can draft a tip that successfully catches the SEC’s attention.

First, make the SEC’s work easier for them; avoid general tips that do not clearly indicate how a case will be prosecuted.  Instead, lay out how the whistleblower tip can easily be prosecuted. Second, show the SEC that the violation is clearly material, meaning that it is demonstrably a violation of the law.  Finally, provide actual documentary evidence of your claim.  Many tips are just allegations, and providing physical evidence is an important first step to demonstrating that the claim can be prosecuted successfully.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Are you considering filing a whistleblower claim? You will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney to decide whether the conduct you have observed constitutes a violation of the False Claims Act. Evidence gathering, dealing with the federal government’s attorneys, important deadlines, statutes of limitations, and filing requirements make your representation both complex and time-sensitive.

Mississippi Whistleblower Attorney Jonathan Barrett is available now at (601) 790-1505

Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.