The federal government is offering financial incentives to securities fraud whistleblowers, commodity fraud whistleblowers, stimulus fraud whistleblowers, and other financial fraud whistleblowers to step up and blow the whistle on Securities and Exchange Commission SEC violations, Commodity Future Trading Commission CFTC violations, derivative fraud, and other forms of financial fraud.  Recent legislation not only strengthens existing qui tam and whistleblower protection laws, but also creates new whistleblower bounties that can be collected by whistleblowers that properly report SEC violations, financial fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and stimulus fraud.

If you are aware of securities fraud, commodity fraud, SEC violations, stimulus fraud, or other financial fraud,  please feel free to contact SEC Violation, Stimulus Fraud, and Financial Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer Jason Coomer via e-mail message or use our submission form about a potential Financial Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuit, Stimulus Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuit, SEC Violation Whistleblower Action, CFTC Violation Action, IRS Whistleblower Reward Program Claim, SEC Whistleblower Incentive Program Action, or other Whistleblower Bounty Action or Qui Tam False Claim Whistleblower lawsuit. 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Created the SEC Incentive Program Allowing New Whistleblower Bounty Provisions that All Financial Fraud Whistleblowers, Stimulus Fraud Whistleblowers, and SEC Violation Whistleblowers to Collect Rewards for SEC Bounty Claims

In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law which includes significant new financial fraud bounty whistleblower provisions.  These provisions create economic incentives for SEC violation whistleblowers and other financial fraud whistleblowers with "original information" of SEC violations and financial fraud to blow the on large scale financial fraud and SEC violations. 

These SEC bounty claims must be brought voluntarily under the SEC Bounty Programs by one or more individuals.  The whistleblower or whistleblowers must be a natural person or natural persons, companies or other entity is not eligible to be financial fraud bounty whistleblowers.  Successful SEC violation bounty whistleblowers and financial fraud whistleblowers can collect financial rewards for whistleblower bounty actions that result in the imposition of monetary sanctions of greater than $1 million dollars.  This new financial fraud SEC bounty program is called the "Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection". 

Through SEC Whistleblower Bounty Actions the SEC will award between ten percent and thirty percent of the money collected to a qualified whistleblower who voluntarily provides the SEC with original information about a violation of the securities laws that leads to a successful enforcement of an action brought by the SEC that results in monetary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000.00.  

So long as the financial fraud whistleblower or financial fraud whistleblowers base their claims on "original information", any person (not just an employee or insider) may file a SEC financial fraud bounty claim.  Further, if the financial fraud whistleblower is represented by an attorney, the whistleblower may file the financial fraud bounty claim anonymously.  However, before the financial fraud bounty award is paid, the whistleblower's identity shall be revealed to the SEC and SEC shall be provided information about the whistleblower that it requests.

SEC Securities Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits, Dodd-Frank Act Financial Fraud Whistleblower Bounty Actions, CFTC Commodity Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits, SEC Whistleblower Incentive Program Claims, Financial Fraud Derivatives Bounty Actions, & Financial Fraud False Claims Act Whistleblower Lawsuits

Stimulus Fraud Lawsuits, Financial Fraud Qui Tam Lawsuits, and the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (May 2009)

In May 2009, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 was signed into law which makes important amendments to the country's most important tool for fighting fraud, the False Claims Act.  This new Federal False Claim Act Legislation will protect hundreds of billions spent on government programs from fraud and government waste and expand the ability of whistleblowers to collect compensation.

This Act amends the False Claims Act to: (1) expand liability under such Act for making false or fraudulent claims to the federal government; and (2) apply liability under such Act for presenting a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval (currently limited to such a claim presented to an officer or employee of the federal government). Requires persons who violate such Act to reimburse the federal government for the costs of a civil action to recover penalties or damages.  The Act also modifies and expands provisions of the False Claims Act relating to intervention by the federal government in civil actions for false claims, sharing of information by the Attorney General with a claimant, retaliatory relief, and service upon state or local authorities in sealed cases.

The Act also redefines "claim" to include claims submitted "to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient, if the money or property is to be spent or used on the Government's behalf or to advance a Government program or interest."  This language makes explicit the ability of Government and whistleblowers to pursue subcontractors and grantees.  This expansion will create potential liability to health care providers and other businesses that contract with government programs including Medicaid and Medicare.

The Act also redefines "obligation" to include "an established duty, whether or not fixed," arising from a variety of relationships, and specifically includes obligations "arising from statute or regulation, or from the retention of any overpayment."  This change allows the government and whistleblower to pursue violations of regulatory statutes with penalty provisions as False Claims Act Case and pursue false documents which are "material to an obligation to pay or transmit money...to the Government" regardless of whether a false claim has been submitted.  For example, a government contractor who backdates records to support a claim already submitted could be liable under this expansion.

The Act also expand the anti-retaliation provisions from only employees to include "contractors and agents" who "act to stop one or more violations."  This expanded protection could extend to contractors in government-funded managed care plans who take action to stop false reporting or illegal denial of service by the plan.

These expansions to the Federal False Claims Act should increase the number of Federal False Claims Act Lawsuits and allow the Federal Government to crack down on fraud and wasteful spending as well as recoup money that has been fraudulently obtained.

The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act also expands federal fraud laws to encompass independent mortgage companies, which are not currently covered by antifraud statutes that apply to traditional banks. Such independent mortgage companies originated approximately half of all subprime loans in 2005 and 2006. The bill defines a financial institution that will be covered by the fraud statutes as any business that finances or refinances mortgages. The Act expands the mortgage-related violations that are subject to both criminal and civil punishments. Additionally, the legislation makes it a crime to appraise a property falsely, an effort to prevent the purposeful inflation of home value appraisals that contributed to the housing bubble and the resulting housing crisis.

The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act strengthens protections against attempts to defraud the federal government, particularly through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the economic stimulus package; expands the financial instruments that are covered by the securities fraud statute; and clarifies a money laundering statute. The Act provides $490 billion in spending for investigation and prosecution of mortgage fraud, securities fraud, and fraud cases involving federal economic assistance.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (February 2009)

In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law which includes significant new whistleblower provisions. Section 1553 of the Act prohibits any private employer or state or local government that receives any funds pursuant to the Act from retaliating against an employee who discloses, internally or externally, information that the employee reasonably believes constitutes evidence of one or more of a number of specified improper uses of stimulus funds, including gross mismanagement of an agency contract or grant, gross waste of covered funds, or an abuse of authority related to the implementation or use of covered funds. Section 1553 establishes procedures and damage remedies that are similar in some ways to those with which many employers are familiar under Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX"), but its whistleblower provisions go beyond the whistleblower protections of SOX in several respects.

TARP Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits, Bail Out Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits, Financial Fraud Federal False Claims Act Lawsuits, and Stimulus Fraud Qui Tam Whistleblower Lawsuits

Many financial fraud whistleblower lawsuits may include also include elements of stimulus fraud whistleblower qui tam lawsuits or other Federal False Claims Act Lawsuits.  This potential Financial Fraud Actions under the Federal False Claims Act may allow a stimulus fraud whistleblower or other financial fraud whistleblower to potentially collect a large recovery for blowing the whistle on financial fraud.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a $700 Billion Bail Out of the troubled United States Banking and Credit System.  It was designed to unfreeze the credit market and enable the government to purchase residential and commercial mortgage assets, including whole loans and securities.  Unfortunately, after it was announced numerous Corporate interests began scheming on how to get as much of the Bail Out money as possible and use the money not for its intended purpose, but to enrich the corporations, shareholders, and CEOs that were able to get a portion of the money.

If you are aware of a corporation, CEO, or individual that has fraudulently obtained Bail Out money or intentionally used this money contrary to its intended purpose, there may be a viable Qui Tam Claim that would allow you not only to recoup government money for U.S. taxpayers, but also collect a portion of that money for yourself.

Through Federal False Claims Act Whistleblower Lawsuits, Qui Tam Lawsuits, and other Government Fraud Lawsuits, billions of dollars have been recovered from fraudulent government contractors and corporations that have committed fraud and stolen large amounts of money from the government and taxpayers.

It is extremely important that Whistleblowers continue to expose fraudulent billing practices and unnecessary treatments that cost billions of dollars.   If you are aware of a large investment company, hedge fund, bank, financial institution, government contractor that is defrauding investors or the United States Government out of millions or billions of dollars, please feel free to contact Texas Financial Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer Jason Coomer.  As a Financial Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Securities Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, and  Stimulus Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, he works with other powerful qui tam lawyers that handle large Stimulus Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits, Securities Fraud Bounty Actions, Commodity Fraud Bounty Claims, and other Financial Fraud Lawsuits.  He works with San Antonio Securities Fraud Lawyers, Dallas Financial Fraud Lawyers, Stimulus Qui Tam Lawyers, Houston Medicare Fraud Whistleblower Lawyers, California Healthcare Fraud Lawyers, Dallas Defense Contractor Fraud Lawyers, and other Financial Fraud Whistleblower Lawyers throughout the United States and the World to blow the whistle on fraud that hurts the United States and taxpayers. 

If you are aware of Medicare Fraud, Defense Contractor Fraud, Stimulus Fraud, Government Contractor Fraud, or other government fraud and are the original source with special knowledge of fraud and want to be a whistleblower and an American Hero, please feel free to contact Financial Fraud Bounty Actions and False Claims Act Whistleblower Fraud Lawyer Jason Coomer via e-mail message or our submission form about a potential False Claim regarding a Health Care Fraud lawsuit, Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Lawsuit, Defense Contract Fraud Lawsuit, or other Government Fraud Lawsuits.