Multimillion Reward Inspires Other Whistleblowers

The $104 million reward for one whistleblower has encouraged others to help the IRS nab tax cheats.

Whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld helped the IRS recover hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes that were overdue and hidden away in accounts belonging to wealthy Americans at Swiss bank UBS AG, according to Reuters.

Following the announcement last month of Birkenfeld’s reward, law firms are registering a growth in the number of such cases and seeing a boost in the quality of would-be whistleblowers with better inside information and documents, writes Reuters.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) records, almost 1,400 whistleblowers have identified 9,540 taxpayers since 2006 when the IRS overhauled its program to identify tax cheats.

Whistleblowers are given more options now with the Federal False Claims Act being updated and state-level tax and false claims programs being created.  The downside is the time it takes for such cases to resolve, the uncertainty about a huge payout, and the struggle faced by whistleblowers when they lose employment for exposing fraudulent practices.

If you or someone you know has information about practices that are defrauding the government, contact Sokolove Law today for a free and confidential legal consultation.

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