4 ms·

Shouldn’t the caught party be identified and what the illegal scheme was? It feels like the public should at least know that, if not the whistleblower.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Scoundreller 6y ago
Sometimes those details are enough to identify the informant, or for someone with enough sleuthing skills. For funsies, I once figured out a confidential informant in a DoJ investigation. There was enough info because they were running a business in a niche field in a state not known for it. Didn't act on it in anyway.
- thephyber 6y ago
  Depending on the definition of "informant", that would have been illegal[1] (according to this source). [1] https://www.robertreeveslaw.com/blog/doxing-arrested/ https://www.robertreeveslaw.com/blog/doxing-arrested/
  - Scoundreller 6y ago
    Was wondering that myself, but didn't see any benefit to telling anyone even if it were legal. Based on your link, it seems like publishing their ID would be illegal. But if a reporter called them up and interviewed them without publishing identity, no law would be broken. Not legal advice.
    - thephyber 6y ago
      Yes, I was unclear. > that would have been I meant to say "publishing would have been" illegal.
  - andykx 6y ago
    I think there's some nuance here. It's not illegal to know that someone is an informant, you just can't publish their information.
korethr 6y ago
This was my initial thought too, but reflecting, I think at least part of the reason they aren't naming the guilty party here is to protect the identity of the whistle blower. If you could reason from knowledge of the guilty party whom the whistle blower is, knowing they just got an $8.3 million payout, it just might be worth your time to go after said whistle blower. I don't think it's unreasonable that someone could figure that out.
vmception 6y ago
The SEC reaches out to the company to let them know they are considering an investigation (Wells Notice) and then decides if they want to do an investigation after they confirm issues. Then they settle with the companies. If settlement is large enough, whistleblower gets paid some too. As the whistleblower is not the accuser in the civil charge, the company doesn't get to know who it was.
wmf 6y ago
The SEC talks about their enforcement actions all the time: https://www.sec.gov/news/pressreleases https://www.sec.gov/news/pressreleases Pretty much every week there's a "$COMPANY pays $MILLIONS to settle charges" announcement, so these aren't being swept under the rug. The important point is that there's no way to link which whistleblower award comes from which enforcement. The public doesn't need to know this.
- mistermann 6y ago
  How often are criminal charges laid and and disclosed, or is this more of a cost of doing business type of thing?
  - wmf 6y ago
    Note that the SEC cannot press criminal charges, but they can send evidence to a federal prosecutor (e.g. the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York) who can initiate criminal cases. They also like to advertise their cases: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr?f%5B0%5D=field_pr_topic%3A3926 https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr?f%5B0%5D=field_pr_topic...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Scoundreller 6y ago

Sometimes those details are enough to identify the informant, or for someone with enough sleuthing skills. For funsies, I once figured out a confidential informant in a DoJ investigation. There was enough info because they were running a business in a niche field in a state not known for it. Didn't act on it in anyway.

thephyber 6y ago
Depending on the definition of "informant", that would have been illegal[1] (according to this source). [1] https://www.robertreeveslaw.com/blog/doxing-arrested/ https://www.robertreeveslaw.com/blog/doxing-arrested/
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  Was wondering that myself, but didn't see any benefit to telling anyone even if it were legal. Based on your link, it seems like publishing their ID would be illegal. But if a reporter called them up and interviewed them without publishing identity, no law would be broken. Not legal advice.
  - thephyber 6y ago
    Yes, I was unclear. > that would have been I meant to say "publishing would have been" illegal.
- andykx 6y ago
  I think there's some nuance here. It's not illegal to know that someone is an informant, you just can't publish their information.

korethr 6y ago

This was my initial thought too, but reflecting, I think at least part of the reason they aren't naming the guilty party here is to protect the identity of the whistle blower. If you could reason from knowledge of the guilty party whom the whistle blower is, knowing they just got an $8.3 million payout, it just might be worth your time to go after said whistle blower. I don't think it's unreasonable that someone could figure that out.

vmception 6y ago

The SEC reaches out to the company to let them know they are considering an investigation (Wells Notice) and then decides if they want to do an investigation after they confirm issues. Then they settle with the companies. If settlement is large enough, whistleblower gets paid some too. As the whistleblower is not the accuser in the civil charge, the company doesn't get to know who it was.

wmf 6y ago

The SEC talks about their enforcement actions all the time: https://www.sec.gov/news/pressreleases https://www.sec.gov/news/pressreleases Pretty much every week there's a "$COMPANY pays $MILLIONS to settle charges" announcement, so these aren't being swept under the rug. The important point is that there's no way to link which whistleblower award comes from which enforcement. The public doesn't need to know this.

mistermann 6y ago
How often are criminal charges laid and and disclosed, or is this more of a cost of doing business type of thing?
- wmf 6y ago
  Note that the SEC cannot press criminal charges, but they can send evidence to a federal prosecutor (e.g. the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York) who can initiate criminal cases. They also like to advertise their cases: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr?f%5B0%5D=field_pr_topic%3A3926 https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr?f%5B0%5D=field_pr_topic...