IRS Whistleblower Program

Like the IRS & SEC you can sometimes search for assets by using whistleblower tips, my October 3rd program explains.

A) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

At the New York County Lawyers’ Association on October 3, 2017 from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM, I will be the program chair of “Whistleblowers, Secret Swiss Bank Accounts & Recovering Hidden Assets.” Attendee registration is available at the website available here or by calling the New York County Lawyers’ Association at (212) 267-6646. During the October 3rd program, I highlight the use of whistleblower tips to recover hidden assets.  I show how to search for assets which can be hidden by high net worth divorcing spouses; corporations; Ponzi schemers; tax fraudsters; etc.  I talk about tools you can use to recover assets hidden in Switzerland and other places across the globe. The October 3rd program also focuses on the Internal Revenue Service & Securities Exchange Commission whistleblower programs which can provide qualifying tipsters with the largest payouts compared to any other reward programs in the world.

Jack BlumWashington, D.C. attorney Jack Blum is well-known internationally for his representation of whistleblowers. In addition to others he has represented,  Mr. Blum will talk about Mr. Hervé Falciani, the whistleblower the media dubbed “the [Edward] Snowden of Swiss banking.”  Mr. Falciani allegedly stole Swiss bank account information from HSBC in Geneva and as a whistleblower turned the information over to French authorities. This alleged HSBC bank account information eventually fell into the hands of the International Consortium Of Investigative Journalists, which published part of it at their webpages known as the Swiss Leaks project.  Furthermore, Mr. Blum appeared on the CBS/60 Minutes television show to discuss the foregoing.  He will similarly discuss these matters at the October 3rd program and analyze: the IRS whistleblower program; problems whistleblowers face in the real world; and the difficulty lawyers may encounter in dealing with whistleblowers either as clients or tipsters.

ThomasLabaton & Sucharow partner Jordan A. Thomas will also speak at the October 3rd program.  Mr. Thomas will discuss the Securities Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program, as he is one of the world’s leading experts on it. He will review the advantages and disadvantages of the different whistleblower programs; and the ethical concerns gatekeepers like attorneys, accountants, officers and directors have, in reporting illegal behavior in both the civil and criminal contexts.  As more fully set forth below, Mr. Thomas: is a former assistant director in the Commission’s Enforcement Division; had a leadership role in developing the Commission’s whistleblower program; and was assigned to many of the Commission’s highest-profile matters such as those involving Enron, Fannie Mae, UBS & Citigroup.

Photo Charles Bott

Charles Bott QC, Head of Carmelite Chambers in the United Kingdom, is a recognized authority on financial crime and its regulation.  Subject to his availability, Mr. Bott may travel to New York to speak at the October 3rd program. He has appeared in more than 80 serious fraud trials including some of the leading cases of recent years and advised many other clients under investigation.  Mr. Bott specializes in cases of serious fraud, money laundering and revenue evasion; and in the United Kingdom, he is regularly instructed in serious criminal cases and regulatory cases of all kinds.Continue Reading Whistleblowers, Secret Swiss Bank Accounts & Recovering Hidden Assets

How can one detect assets one is unaware of?  Sometimes by putting tipsters to work and collecting their tips.  These tips may be gathered in a variety of ways.  “An Asset Search, Tax Fraud & Divorce” describes a private investigation in which a prospective tipster was interviewed by “Brian”, an ex-IRS Special Agent and former high-ranking official at FinCEN.

Brian conducted the interview on behalf of a divorcing wife trying to locate marital assets hidden by her divorcing husband.  “Warsaw Prosecutors Eye Possible Money Laundering At 50 Platowcowa Street” mentions a tip supplied by an anonymous letter.  This tip letter caused Polish prosecutors to launch a money laundering investigation and search for assets connected to a suspected shell company in Delaware.

Meanwhile, the whistleblower programs at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, (“the Commission”), also collect tips.   The two programs respectively sniff out tips about assets hidden in tax or securities frauds.  The article “What Happens To An SEC Whistleblower Tip?” available below, gives an insider’s view of the Commission’s whistleblower program.  One of the article’s authors is Jordan A. Thomas, a former assistant director in the Commission’s Enforcement Division.  Mr. Thomas had a leadership role in developing the Commission’s whistleblower program and he is now a partner and chair of the Whistleblower Representation Practice at Labaton Sucharow LLP.

What Happens To An SEC Whistleblower Tip?¹

One of the questions we’re frequently asked by clients and prospective clients is “what happens to a whistleblower tip once it’s submitted to the SEC, and how does the SEC determine which tips to actively investigate?” These are crucial questions for any potential whistleblower, especially given that the SEC receives approximately 30,000 tips, complaints and referral each year – 3,200 of which were whistleblower tips in 2013 – but can only conduct about 700 active enforcement investigations each year.
Continue Reading Detecting Hidden Assets By Putting Tipsters To Work