In 2024, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division launched the Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to combat corporate crime. The Corporate Whistleblower Pilot Program will run through 2027, before being re-evaluated, and is modeled on other successful whistleblower programs like those administered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Pilot Program is designed to police misconduct not covered by other agency whistleblower programs or the False Claims Act, such as:
- crimes committed by financial institutions, including cryptocurrency fraud, money laundering, and other non-compliance;
- health care fraud targeting private payor and patients, investors, or non-governmental entities in the health care industry;
- domestic corruption and the bribery of public officials; and
- violations of the Foreign Corruption Practices Act outside the jurisdiction of the SEC and CFTC.
Whistleblowers are not eligible for an award under the Pilot Program if they would have been eligible for an award for reporting the same misconduct to another whistleblower program.
The Pilot Program encourages individuals with insider knowledge of corporate misconduct to come forward by offering financial rewards. Whistleblowers who provide original and truthful information leading to successful asset forfeiture netting more than $1 million may qualify for a percentage of the recovered assets. Whistleblowers may be eligible to recover up to 30% of the first $100 million of assets recovered and up to 5% of the next $400 million recovered. Eligibility for a financial reward depends on the quality of the information provided and its role in securing a forfeiture, as outlined in the program’s guidance. Notably, if a whistleblower first reported the misconduct internally, they must report that misconduct to DOJ within 120 days to be eligible for an award.
The DOJ ensures submissions are handled confidentially to the extent permitted by law and aims to promote accountability, deter corporate crime, and support individuals who expose wrongdoing.