A tipster who already received a financial award from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is getting a second payout for a tip that led to related enforcement action by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ).
The SEC has awarded more than US$9.2 million to a whistleblower for providing information that led to successful action by the DoJ, including a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) or deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with violators.
The same whistleblower had already received a financial reward from the SEC for the SEC’s successful enforcement action based on the same information. The SEC did not specify the size of the original award.
“The whistleblower provided significant information about an ongoing fraud to the SEC that enabled a large amount of money to be returned to investors harmed by the fraud,” the regulator said, adding that it turned over the information to the DoJ, and the tipster also aided the DoJ’s investigation.
The SEC noted that this is the first time it has paid an award based on a related enforcement action that resulted in an NPA or DPA.
Changes to the SEC’s whistleblower rules last year expanded eligibility for awards to related actions by the DoJ.
“This award reflects the commission’s determination that a whistleblower’s eligibility for an award should not depend on the procedural vehicle a federal agency selects to resolve an enforcement matter,” said Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.
“Deserving whistleblowers, like today’s awardee, will be rewarded regardless of the path used to successfully conclude the matter,” she said.
With this latest award, payouts to whistleblowers from the SEC have now topped US$750 million since the SEC issued its first award in 2012.