It was another big year for whistleblowers under the various whistleblower rewards programs that provide whistleblowers with a share of the government’s recovery from enforcement actions they initiate or otherwise support.  The two most prolific rewards programs are the False Claims Act and the SEC Whistleblower Program, each of which provides successful whistleblowers with up to 30% of the government’s recovery.  As in past years, the bulk of this year’s top whistleblower awards came from these two programs.

The False Claims Act is the government’s primary enforcement tool to combat fraud and allows whistleblowers to bring lawsuits on behalf of the government against those that commit fraud against the government.  As we noted in our 2024 Top-10 List of False Claims Act Recoveries, the government recovered roughly $2.9 billion under the statute last year with more than 80% of that amount coming from matters originated by whistleblowers.  They received $400 million in whistleblower awards for their efforts, bringing the total tally of whistleblower awards under the False Claims Act to $9.5 billion since 1986.

Whistleblowers have been equally successful under the SEC program.  Since the program’s launch in 2011, the SEC has awarded more than $2.2 billion to 444 whistleblowers.  As the SEC highlighted in its most recent Annual Whistleblower Report, this past year alone the agency paid out roughly $255 million in awards to 47 whistleblowers, the third highest annual amount for the program.

All but two of the top awards this past year came from the False Claims Act or SEC whistleblower programs. According to Constantine Cannon whistleblower partner Gordon Schnell, “This result is not surprising as these two programs are the most active whistleblower programs and routinely yield the highest awards.”

Rounding out this year’s Top-10 listing were awards under the IRS Whistleblower Program and Illinois False Claims Act, each of them as discussed below, notable in their own right.  Also notable is that Constantine Cannon represented two of the whistleblowers on this year’s Top-10 list.

We are still waiting for the first award under the relatively new Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program run by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).  Constantine Cannon whistleblower partner Marlene Koury, who has represented numerous whistleblowers under this program, expects that to change soon.  “The government has significantly increased its AML enforcement efforts in recent years, including its outreach to the whistleblower community, and we expect an imminent wave of AML awards as FinCEN continues its whistleblower enforcement push,” Koury says.

In reviewing this year’s Top-10 list, please note the possibility that certain large awards may be missing because not all awards are publicly announced and some are subject to change because the defendant’s ultimate payout may be subject to bankruptcy or other factors affecting the final settlement amount.  For example, the whistleblower awards from two of the biggest False Claims Act settlements this past year — Rite Aid ($410M) and Kabbage ($120M) — will depend on how these companies fare in their respective bankruptcy proceedings.

With all that said, here is our list of the Top 10 whistleblower awards for 2024:

No. 1: $98M Award (SEC).  On August 23, the SEC announced a whistleblower award of $98 million to two whistleblowers, with the lead whistleblower receiving $82 million for causing the agency to open the investigation that led to the successful enforcement action.

No. 2: $74M Award (IRS).  In September, the IRS made a whistleblower award of $74 million to three whistleblowers for reporting an offshore tax evasion scheme that led the agency to collect $263 million from an unidentified individual.  It was one of the agency’s largest whistleblower awards ever and almost as much as all the awards the agency doled out to 121 whistleblowers in 2023 combined.

No. 3: $37M Award (SEC).  On July 17, the SEC announced an award of roughly $37 million “to a whistleblower who provided information not previously known to the SEC and which significantly contributed to a successful enforcement action.”  The whistleblower received this award even though it met with the SEC only once and after the agency had already opened an investigation into the subject fraud.

No. 4: $37M Award (SEC).  On July 26, the SEC announced a whistleblower award of roughly $37 million.  Notably, before reporting to the SEC, the whistleblower reported their concerns internally to their company, which conducted its own investigation and eventually reported the results to the SEC, which then caused the agency to open the investigation.  The SEC credited the whistleblower with causing the agency to open the investigation even though it was the company’s self-reporting that was the actual catalyst.

No. 5: $24M Award (SEC).  On August 26, the SEC announced a whistleblower award of roughly $24 million to two whistleblowers, with the lead whistleblower receiving $20 million.  Notably, the lead whistleblower reported after the other whistleblower prompted the SEC to open the investigation, but they provided significantly more valuable information that expanded the scope of the investigation, including important information about key witnesses and their roles in the scheme.

No. 6: $121M Settlement (FCA).  On July 10, Rite Aid Corporation and certain subsidiaries agreed to pay $101 million and up to $20 million in unsecured claims in Rite Aid’s bankruptcy to settle DOJ and whistleblower charges of failing to properly report to Medicare drug rebates it received from manufacturers, characterizing them instead as bona fide service fees.  Former Rite aid employee Glenn Rzeszutko received an undisclosed whistleblower award from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.

No. 7: $15M (FCA).  On September 13, Illinois-based Walgreens agreed to pay roughly $107 million to settle DOJ and whistleblower charges of violating the False Claims Act by billing Medicare/Medicaid for prescriptions it processed but that patients never picked up.  Former Walgreens pharmacy manager Steven Turck received a whistleblower award of roughly $15 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.

No. 8: $14.4M Award (IL FCA).  On March 21, eight of the country’s largest banks including Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Fifth Third Bancorp, BMO, and William Blair agreed to pay $48 million to settle whistleblower charges of violating the Illinois False Claims Act through fraud and collusion in the fees the banks charged and the interest rates they set for Illinois tax-exempt municipal bonds known as VRDOs.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Edelweiss Fund, which received a whistleblower award of $14.4 million.  Constantine Cannon represented the whistleblower in this matter with the settlement representing the largest reported settlement ever under the Illinois False Claims Act.

No. 9: $14M Award (FCA).  On June 21, Connecticut-based Sikorsky Support Services and its sister company Wisconsin-based Derco Aerospace agreed to pay $70 million to settle DOJ and whistleblower charges of violating the False Claims Act by overcharging the Navy for spare parts and materials needed to repair and maintain the primary aircraft used to train naval aviators.  Former Derco employee Mary Patzer received a whistleblower award of roughly $14 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.

No. 10: $98M Settlement (FCA).  On December 29, Buffalo-based Independent Health agreed to pay up to $98 million to settle DOJ and whistleblower charges of violating the False Claims Act by submitting invalid diagnosis codes to increase the payments the company received from Medicare for its Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees.  Constantine Cannon represented the whistleblower, Teresa Ross — a former employee of Group Health Cooperative (now Kaiser) — who will receive a whistleblower award of at least $8.2 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.

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If you would like more information on any of these awards or would like to learn more about what it means to be a whistleblower under the False Claims Act or any of the other whistleblower rewards programs, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We will connect you with an experienced member of our whistleblower team for a free and confidential consultation.  Maybe you have what it takes to make the Top-10 list in the coming years.

Read Top 10 Whistleblower Awards for 2024 at constantinecannon.com