Mar 22
A Tyco Electronics accountant named Jeffrey Wiest consistently reported (and denied payment for) what he thought were inappropriate employee entertainment/party expenses because they did not meet IRS guidelines and his employer’s internal guidelines. The accountant claims that he was terminated in retaliation to his persistence in following proper accounting procedures. A district court threw out …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/03/third-circuit-supports-whistleblower-claim-based-on-a-more-lenient-standard/
Mar 06
The far reaching implications of sequestration are affecting IRS whistleblower awards. The IRS website contains the following announcement: “Pursuant to the requirements of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, certain automatic reductions will take place as of March 1, 2013. These required reductions include a reduction to awards paid …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/03/irs-cutting-whisteblower-awards/
Feb 20
The IRS has had a whistleblower program for decades, but it was not widely used and not much was paid to whistleblowers. In February 2013, the IRS issued its annual FY 2012 report to Congress regarding use of Section 7623. The report shows substantial increase in the information reported by whistleblowers and the IRS consideration …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/02/irs-whistleblower-program-grows/
Jan 06
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just released its first annual report of the “Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection” (Section 922) created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (aka “Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program”). To reportedly encourage employees to report complaints without fear of retaliation by their employer (e.g., getting fired), the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/01/first-statistics-on-the-dodd-frank-whistleblower-program/
Dec 02
The SEC issued its fiscal 2012 (ended September 2012) report regarding is complaint reporting system that is maintained pursuant to Section 21F of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This article describes this program. The SEC received over 3000 complaints. With this volume, no wonder that the SEC received complaints came from …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/12/sec-whistleblower-hotline-is-blisteringly-hot/
Nov 08
He strikes again. The IRS whistleblower known only as “Mr. ABC” has claimed his third payout for assistance in bringing down tax cheats. Mr. ABC has been critical of the government’s ability to identify and investigate sophisticated tax shelters. Whether motivated by a sense of justice or the pursuit of yet another seven figure reward, …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/11/is-irs-whistleblower-the-new-caped-crusader/
Nov 06
The Administrative Review Board (ARB) for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a decision regarding the scope of the whistleblower protections under Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). In Spinner vs. David Landau and Associates, SOX’s whistleblower protections were extended to employees of contractors of publicly-traded companies. The ARB specifically mentioned its disagreement with …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/11/conflicting-rulings-about-soxs-scope-cause-private-company-employees-to-stay-with-dol-adjudication/
Nov 02
An October 2012 PWC study indicates large private companies see widespread benefit to public company corporate governance processes. PWC surveyed 221 CEOs and CFOs from companies who were spit approximately evenly from service and product companies. The companies had average revenues of $307 million. 80% of these private companies are adopting specific corporate governance practices, …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/11/more-private-companies-are-voluntarily-adopting-improved-corporate-governance-practices/
Oct 22
The SEC announced its first payout from its new whistleblower program under the Dodd-Frank Act to an unidentified person who helped stop a multi-million dollar financial fraud. The reward was $50,000, representing 30% of the amount collected in the SEC enforcement action. 30% is the maximum percentage payout allowed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/10/first-payout-of-sec-whistleblower-program-also-provides-volume-of-complaints-received/
Sep 12
Despite prior criticism that the IRS hasn’t been properly paying under it’s whistleblower reward program (discussed here), it recently awarded a record amount of $104 million to Bradley Birkenfeld. The reward derived from information he provided leading to the 2009 agreement by UBS to pay $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution related to allegations that …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/09/whistleblower-emerges-from-jail-and-collects-over-100-million-reward/
