Companies often commit many crimes and unethical practices on a grand scale involving people from several countries. Whistleblowers are crucial in fighting corruption that law enforcement might never unearth. Whistleblowers are usually privy to the inner workings of fraudulent and other criminal networks, often as employees in overtly legitimate realms, such as commerce, securities, government, the environment, and the private sector.
The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) estimates crimes such as trafficking, importing and exporting stolen goods, and money laundering generate between $1.3 to $3.3 trillion globally each year. Whistleblowers risk retaliation by exposing corruption, environmental crimes, and other transnational crimes. When you have information about wrongdoing that extends to another country, contact a Greenville international whistleblower lawyer for guidance on how and where to report it. An experienced attorney is ready to help.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Dodd-Frank Act, and the False Claims Act (FCA) reward American and non-U.S. citizens whistleblowers for reporting fraud and corruption.
The FCPA prohibits people and businesses from bribing foreign officials. It also mandates that domestic and foreign companies whose stock trades on American stock exchanges must adopt ethical accounting principles and implement internal controls for financial matters.
The FCPA was enacted in 1977 when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) discovered about 400 American companies had paid hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign government officials to secure or expand businesses and then falsified the company books to hide it. For instance, these businesses were winning contracts and circumventing safety and other regulations. Money was also used for campaign contributions. The Department of Justice and the SEC enforce the FCPA overwhelmingly, with the help of whistleblowers. An international whistleblower lawyer in Greenville could direct how someone should proceed under the FCPA.
The Dodd-Frank Act was the government’s answer to the 2008 collapse of financial institutions. Both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission established whistleblower programs under the Act.
Along with adding additional oversight for financial institutions, Dodd-Frank expanded protection for corporate whistleblowers to include employees of subsidiaries and affiliates. The Act can hold foreign companies doing business in the U.S. accountable under the Act for securities fraud, such as insider trading or lying on SEC filings. The Act created a system in which settlement money from corporate wrongdoers is shared with the whistleblowers who tipped off the government. An attorney in Greenville could protect and secure settlement money for international whistleblowers.
The federal False Claims Act protects whistleblowers reporting transnational fraud. The government enacted it to identify fraud perpetrated against it. For example, an import-export company that falsifies the value of overseas goods to pay less in customs duty taxes is violating the False Claims Act.
The FCA also permits whistleblowers to file lawsuits on behalf of the government and recoup some of the litigation settlement money. When a whistleblower files a complaint in federal court, they forward a copy to the government. The whistleblower may receive between 15 and 30 percent of the settlement. When you have knowledge of fraud against the government, an international whistleblower lawyer in Greenville could help.
Whistleblowers are crucial defenders of fairness worldwide, so much so that, in 2003, the United Nations put forth the Convention Against Corruption, which 140 nations signed. Many foreign nations also have individual laws that protect whistleblowers. Corruption threatens the free-market economy and harms taxpayers and consumers.
When you have evidence of wrongdoing that extends beyond American borders, we can assess it and help you report it under laws that protect whistleblowers in the U.S. and beyond. We can also assist you with qui tam filings and litigate on behalf of the government. Call a Greenville international whistleblower lawyer for additional information.
