A few times a year I get an email from a whistleblower who reads in the newspaper that his former company paid millions of dollars after cheating the government. They tell me that they were the one who first reported the fraud against the government and ask me if they are entitled to a reward. It pains me to inform them that there are timing limits to be allowed to receive a reward, just like turning in a winning lottery ticket.
Many count sheep to get to sleep at night. I count the reasons why I help whistleblowers apply for rewards (and even wrote a book to guide them). In just one day, I had to count to 40 million. That’s the amount one whistleblower that contacted me would have received if only he had contacted me sooner.
In that case, I painfully told the whistleblower that he was too late to be eligible for a reward because rewards for reporting fraud against the government are governed by a strict statute that has plenty of red tape. This error was waiting too long to formally apply for the reward, which must be before the government collects the funds.
A needless mistake was made by a whistleblower otherwise entitled to $40 million. The goal of this blog is to arm whistleblowers with knowledge and even help them apply for and receive a government whistleblower reward for reporting fraud that averages over $1 million.
One of the most common and costly mistakes a whistleblower can make is to think that calling a hotline or talking to a government investigator acts as a placeholder. But, just like applying for a license at the DMV, merely taking a number while waiting in line only entitles you to step up to the counter. To get car plates or receive a whistleblower reward, you must fill out the right government form. That’s why the topic of my first blog entry is pointing out that failing to properly navigate the system is fatal. Future blog entries will provide other insights that I gained as an attorney in the whistleblower reward office of the U.S. Department of Justice.
To end on a positive note, recently a whistleblower contacted me who had reported fraud to the FBI. He is a person of tremendous courage because he not only reported fraud, but agreed to wear a wire and record conversations for the FBI to help prove the fraud. The good news is that he contacted be before the case was over and I helped him file for a whistleblower reward.
If there is a moral to this blog post, it’s that part of the red tape is that you need to have an attorney file an application to be eligible for a reward for reporting fraud and do so before the government collects the money back from the company cheating the government. It is not enough to call a hotline or report it to the FBI.
Please help me sleep better at night by sharing this blog with your friends. Otherwise, it can be like someone holding the winning lottery ticket but turning it in after due date.