if snowden buys anything I will be pissed
U.S. SEC to pay $30 million-plus in largest whistleblower award
September 22, 2014 3:44 PM ET.
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An anonymous tipster living abroad will be receiving more than $30 million, in the largest whistleblower award ever doled out by U.S. securities regulators as part of a program that aims to incentivize insiders to report wrongdoing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday that the whistleblower provided crucial information that helped investigators uncover a "difficult to detect" ongoing fraud.
"This record-breaking award sends a strong message about our commitment to whistleblowers and the value they bring to law enforcement," SEC Enforcement Director Andrew Ceresney said.
The SEC won new powers in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law to entice whistleblowers with monetary awards. Prior to the new law, the SEC was only able to reward people for helping on insider-trading cases.
The new program lets the SEC pay a whistleblower who provides tips and original information that leads to an enforcement action with sanctions that exceed $1 million.
The SEC can award a whistleblower anywhere between 10 percent and 30 percent of the money the agency collects
By law, the SEC is not allowed to reveal the identity of whistleblowers, and so as a result it does not disclose which case a whistleblower helped to crack.
Settlements with the SEC large enough to justify a $30 million-plus award are fairly uncommon.
Phillips & Cohen LLP, a law firm that represented the whistleblower, declined to provide details about the case but said its client will receive at least $30 million and possibly as much as $35 million.
"I was very concerned that investors were being cheated out of millions of dollars and that the company was misleading them about its actions," said the whistleblower, in a press release issued by the law firm.
Monday's announcement marks the fourth time the SEC has agreed to award a whistleblower living abroad - a fact that the agency said demonstrates the "international breadth" of the program.
Since the inception of the program in fiscal year 2012, the SEC has awarded more than a dozen whistleblowers. Monday's $30 million-plus award is more than double the previous record of $14 million, awarded to a whistleblower in 2013.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20140922&id=17952490
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SEC to Pay $30 Million Whistleblower Award, Its Largest Yet
Agency Says Award to Be Paid to Informant Living in Foreign Country
By Michael Calia
Sept. 22, 2014 1:23 p.m. ET
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that it expects to pay more than $30 million in an award under its whistleblower program, more than double the agency's previous high for a payout under the plan.
The SEC didn't name the whistleblower in question, but the regulator did say that it will be the fourth award given to an informant living in a foreign country.
"This award of more than $30 million shows the international breadth of our whistleblower program as we effectively utilize valuable tips from anyone, anywhere to bring wrongdoers to justice," Sean McKessy, chief of the SEC's whistleblower office, said in a news release. "Whistleblowers from all over the world should feel similarly incentivized to come forward with credible information about potential violations of the U.S. securities laws."
Established under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform measures, the whistleblower program, which paid its first award in fiscal year 2012, has since awarded 13 informants, according to the SEC. The previous record for a payout was $14 million, which was announced in October last year.
Under the program, the SEC awards people 10% to 30% of the funds collected in a case if their information is good and original enough to result in an enforcement action with sanctions reaching more than $1 million. The awards are paid using funds collected through fines and sanctions paid to the SEC.
The agency didn't announce any further details about the award or the case to which it is related Monday, saying that it doesn't release information that might reveal whistleblowers' identities.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/articles/sec-to-pay-30-million-whistleblower-award-its-largest-yet-1411406612
LMAO..."Why yes Mr. Snowden this money IS for you. All you have to do is send us $100.00 so we may begin processing your claim. Then you may come to the precinct, err... bank to sign for it and pick it up." :P
Quote from: Ellirium113 on September 22, 2014, 11:58:46 PM
LMAO..."Why yes Mr. Snowden this money IS for you. All you have to do is send us $100.00 so we may begin processing your claim. Then you may come to the precinct, err... bank to sign for it and pick it up." :P
I was also LMAO when I read your post. I get at least one of those type spam emails a week telling me I have inherited a vast sum . All I have to do is pay some "fee" and fill out this form and they will split the money with me (yeah right ). :D
Snowden: Coming Home 'Not Possible' Under Whistle-Blower Laws
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden says that it is "not possible" for him to come back home to face charges, unless changes are made to the Whistleblower Protection Act.
During a live question and answer session hosted by a website collecting money for his legal defense, Snowden said that as a national security contractor, he would not be protected by the law.
Indeed, a report on the Whistleblower Protection Act by the Congressional Research Service opens by detailing the federal employees covered by the law.
SOURCE (http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/23/265360447/snowden-coming-home-is-not-possible-under-current-whistleblower-laws)