Experienced Whistleblower Attorneys Helping You Blow the Whistle on Corruption and Bribery

Corruption and bribery undermine fair and honest trade. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice enforce laws designed to deter corruption and bribery, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-corruption statutes. Individuals who have information about foreign or domestic corruption and bribery can bring information to the government as whistleblowers and share in a percentage of the government’s monetary recovery in certain circumstances.

• Foreign and domestic bribery, books and records violations, and failures of internal controls are among the most common forms of corruption and bribery that whistleblowers report.
• Whistleblowers can report violations to the SEC Whistleblower Program or the DOJ Criminal Division Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program and may be eligible for significant financial rewards.
• Whistleblowers with knowledge of corruption or bribery—including employees, industry participants, or foreign nationals—may qualify for an award.

The SEC and DOJ have broad authority to investigate and prosecute corruption and bribery by U.S. companies and individuals, as well as by foreign companies and individuals with sufficient ties to the United States. The SEC enforces the FCPA against publicly traded companies and their officers, directors, employees, and agents. The DOJ enforces the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions against all covered persons and entities, and also prosecutes domestic bribery and corruption offenses under a range of other federal statutes. Whistleblowers can help instigate many of these actions.

What Types of Corruption and Bribery Violations Does the Government Prosecute?

FCPA Violations

The FCPA has two parts: forbidding bribery of government officials and requiring specific accounting practices and internal controls so that companies keep accurate books and records.

The FCPA applies to a broad range of persons and entities, including:

• Issuers of securities listed on U.S. national securities exchanges, including NASDAQ or NYSE, or that file SEC reports related to their securities — including the companies themselves, their executives, and their employees.
• Businesses incorporated in the U.S.
• S. citizens (including those living abroad), U.S. residents, and in some circumstances, foreign nationals and companies. The FCPA can target foreign individuals and non-issuer companies that take action (or direct someone else to take action) within the U.S. to further a corrupt payment.

Under the FCPA, bribes are defined broadly. They can include any payment or offer of payment of anything of value to a foreign official. A bribe could be in the form of money, including the offer to pay an official as a “consultant,” or in kind, like paying for gifts, trips, meals, etc. FCPA cases often involve companies bribing foreign officials in exchange for favorable contracts with foreign governments, advantages over competitor companies, help with licenses or permits, avoiding taxes or fines, or otherwise getting away with violations of foreign law.

The books and records requirement of the FCPA means that even if a company never pays bribes, but fails to keep appropriate records or to put in place monitoring systems to make sure it knows where its money is going, that could also be an FCPA violation. Companies must know where their money is going and must be able to show that they are keeping accurate records.

Domestic Bribery and Corruption

Corruption and bribery are not limited to dealings with foreign officials. Domestic bribery — including bribes paid to U.S. government officials, kickbacks in connection with federal programs, and corrupt payments in commercial transactions — can also be the subject of whistleblower reports. Federal statutes prohibiting domestic bribery and corruption include the federal bribery statute (18 U.S.C. § 201), the Anti-Kickback Act, and various program-specific anti-corruption provisions. Where domestic bribery or corruption involves a publicly traded company, the SEC may have jurisdiction; in other cases, the DOJ’s Criminal Division Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program may provide an avenue for reporting and a reward.

When Can a Whistleblower Receive a Whistleblower Reward for Reporting Corruption and Bribery?

Because the SEC has joint jurisdiction over the FCPA with the DOJ for FCPA violations involving publicly traded companies, whistleblowers can report FCPA violations by publicly traded companies through the SEC Whistleblower Program. The CFTC Whistleblower Program may also provide an avenue to report FCPA violations in certain circumstances.

In addition, the DOJ’s Criminal Division Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, launched in August 2024, provides a new avenue for reporting corruption and bribery that fall outside the jurisdiction of the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs. The DOJ program is specifically designed to fill gaps in existing whistleblower award programs and covers, among other things, foreign corruption and bribery by non-publicly traded companies, domestic bribery and kickbacks, and other corporate criminal conduct. Under the DOJ program, whistleblowers may be eligible for a discretionary award based on a percentage of forfeiture recovered in a successful prosecution. Whistleblower Partners can help clients evaluate which program—or combination of programs—is best suited to their particular matter.

Who Can Blow the Whistle on Corruption and Bribery?

Tips about corruption and bribery violations can be submitted to the SEC and/or the DOJ. Individuals can blow the whistle on these violations anonymously if they are represented by an attorney. Whistleblowers do not need to be U.S. citizens or to be living in the U.S. to report corruption or bribery and be eligible for a whistleblower award. Whistleblower Partners can help clients report to both the SEC and the DOJ and evaluate which program or programs offer the best prospects for a successful outcome. For more information or to speak to an attorney at Whistleblower Partners, please contact us for a confidential consultation.