The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would love for you to drop a dime on someone running a financial scam if you know of any, and they are willing to pay big bucks for the info.
On Friday, they announced the biggest payday ever for a whistleblower whose info helped enforce action – $279 million. No more info on what case it was, but they did say it was over double the previous high payment of $114 million.
Here’s a quote from Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement director. “As this award shows, there is a significant incentive for whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations.”
That’s big money — roughly equivalent to what a good NFL starting quarterback would have to work five years for. The money for whistleblowers does not come from taxpayers, it’s taken from an investor protection fund established by Congress that is funded through sanctions paid to the SEC by lawbreakers.
The reward is generally 10% -30% of the money collected. Here’s what Creola Kelly, the chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, had to say about how critical the public is in nabbing financial criminals.
“The whistleblower’s sustained assistance, including multiple interviews and written submissions was critical to the success of these actions.”
If you know someone running a massive Ponzi scheme, it might be financially beneficial to make a call to the SEC.
Since the SEC started paying individuals who come forward to report financial criminals, they’ve given out nearly a billion dollars.
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