Whistleblower Protection Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund : Whistleblower Protection, Fraud Claims : Washington DC

The National Whistleblowers Center will be hosting a series of seminars this summer. The first two are in Denver on June 23rd and in San Francisco on June 27th. Stephen Kohn, Executive Director at the National Whistleblowers Center will host his seminar entitled The NEW Corporate Whistleblower Protections and Reward Provisions. The event in Denver will be held at the Browne Palace Hotel and Spa from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (MST). The San Francisco seminar will be hosted by TURN—The Utility Reform Network at their facility from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (PST). Both are CLE-approved for New Mexico, California, and Utah and CLE-pending in Colorado and Nevada (San Francisco is also CLE-pending in Oregon).

In Denver, Mr. Kohn will host a tutorial on the new whistleblower provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, in addition to other key whistleblower laws. In San Francisco, Mr. Kohn will also lecture on the Federal Pipeline Safety Act as it relates to whistleblowers.

Attorneys will have the opportunity to learn how to use the new laws to effectively represent employees, combat fraud, and qualify for large whistleblower rewards.The regular price for the seminar is $295 with early bird discounts (register on or before June 10th) and reduced fees for ARS members and whistleblowers. For early bird discounts and more information, including agenda and faculty click here.

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On April 28^th, Stephen Kohn, Executive Director at the National Whistleblowers Center will host a seminar entitled "The NEW Corporate Whistleblower Protections and Reward Provisions" from 2:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. (CST) in Austin, Texas. The seminar is at the Radisson Hotel in Austin and is CLE-approved for Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

For two hours Mr. Kohn will host a tutorial on the new whistleblower provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 

Attorneys will have the opportunity to learn how to use the new laws to effectively represent employees, combat fraud, and qualify for large whistleblower rewards.  Click here for more information and to sign up online.

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Uganda's The New Vision reports that the country's Parliament is debating a Whistleblower Bill to protect disclosures of public and private corruption.  Legislators are debating whether protected disclosures should be made to regional officials or to national offices.  Perhaps someday they will protect all disclosures of corruption.

Meanwhile, the same article reports that a tax whistleblower is pressing for payment of a promised reward.  This whistleblower helped the government collect 3.8 billion schillings (about $1.5 million) in taxes between 2002 and 2005. However, he still has not received his entitlement of ten percent (10%).  He has filed a court claim for payment, and as a result, his identity has been disclosed.  The New Vision reports that he is now in "grave danger."

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The LA Times reported last week on a series of trends in securities fraud. The $65 billion lost in the Madoff scandal highlights the huge losses millions of investors suffer as a result of corporate fraud.  Meanwhile, the new enforcement chief at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports a dramatic rise in enforcement actions. The numbers of formal investigations and restraining orders have approximately doubled.  The total sum of restitution orders has more than doubled.

After serving his first year as the SEC's enforcement director, Robert Khuzami is now calling for improving the protections for whistleblowers, and even rewarding them for turning in their bosses or co-conspirators.  Khuzami proposes "cooperation agreements" that could assure whistleblowers that they will receive leniency or exemption from SEC enforcement action, or legal assistance in the event of prosecution. Khuzami is also calling for changes in the law to protect whistleblowers and even to reward them financially. "Whistle-blower laws provide a powerful incentive for people to come forward," Stephen M. Kohn told LA Times reporter Kathy M. Kristof.  Kohn is Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center. Kohn adds,  "The U.S. government has collected billions and billions of dollars as the result of the False Claims Act." Khuzami's call for a whistleblower reward recognizes what works.  The reward provided by the False Claims Act (FCA) has recovered billions of dollars for U.S. taxpayers.

Kristof's article notes that the success of Khuzami's new proposal may hinge on what happens to the world's most famous corporate and tax fraud whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld.

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Attorney Dan Hurson used to work for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This week he cheered for the whistleblower provision in President Obama's proposal to overhaul our regulations of financial markets.  "This may be the beginning of the golden age of whistleblowing," he writes. "The potential for such a statute, covering all of the growing jurisdiction of the SEC, is vast."

"Of course, the SEC will have to listen to its whistleblowers, not just offer to pay them," he adds. Currently, the SEC can reward whistleblowers for providing information about insider trading. The new proposal would allow rewards for whistleblowers on any matter enforced by the SEC.  Hurson hopes that the SEC will use the new authority to establish a whistleblower office to coordinate intake and encourage whistleblowing.

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Several news sources have reported on a proposal by the Obama Administration to create a monetary reward for whistleblowers who help the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Money Times reports that under current law, the SEC has the authority to reward individuals who provide tip-offs on insider-trading violations. However, this new bill will allow the SEC to set up a fund using the fines and penalties collected from enforcement actions and would reward whistleblowers from this fund. The bill is called the Investor Protection Act of 2009.
 

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