5 ms·

in what world is there a selfish financial incentive for whistleblowing?

by Vervious 5y ago

MattGaiser 5y ago
Reduce the risk and increase the payoff. Not sure how, but those are the levers that need adjusting.
- elliekelly 5y ago
  The insurance and mortgage companies should have been interested in the information but I doubt whoever had the information would have thought to contact them and, even if they did, I doubt the companies would have had a reliable process for receiving and investigating that sort of “whistleblower” claim. It’s even more complicated when it’s a condo building and there are any number of different banks and insurers involved, rather than just one. Everyone assumes someone else is looking at X and so they all ignore it a bit more than they should. But, if you’re looking for the business niche, I’d guess they’d be your customers. Basically a “bug bounty” program for underwriters of tenancy in common real estate.
triceratops 5y ago
Pretty sure there's some law in the US where you get a percentage of the judgement if you whistleblow. Maybe it's specific to the finance industry. Someone help me out.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  The SEC does. https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-266 https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-266
  - triceratops 5y ago
    Thanks
- elliekelly 5y ago
  They’re called qui tam suits[1] and in the US they’re commonly brought under the False Claims Act[2] which can apply to any government contractor but Medicare Fraud is a big piece. The way it works is the “whistleblower” files a civil suit with the allegations and then the government can choose whether or not they want to take over the case. If the government think your allegations are solid and the potential recovery is worth their while they’ll take the case and you’re entitled to 10% of anything they ultimately recover. If, for whatever reason, the government decides not to get involved, you can continue the case on your own (but kind of on behalf of the government... it’s a bit weird how it works) and anything you recover goes to the government but you get 30% for your trouble. The SEC also has a whistleblower program that another commenter has linked and, as of recently, they have really been paying out a lot of money to whistleblowers. Larger sums and more frequent payouts than we’ve ever seen before. [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui_tam https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui_tam [2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Claims_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Claims_Act

in what world is there a selfish financial incentive for whistleblowing?

MattGaiser 5y ago

Reduce the risk and increase the payoff. Not sure how, but those are the levers that need adjusting.

elliekelly 5y ago
The insurance and mortgage companies should have been interested in the information but I doubt whoever had the information would have thought to contact them and, even if they did, I doubt the companies would have had a reliable process for receiving and investigating that sort of “whistleblower” claim. It’s even more complicated when it’s a condo building and there are any number of different banks and insurers involved, rather than just one. Everyone assumes someone else is looking at X and so they all ignore it a bit more than they should. But, if you’re looking for the business niche, I’d guess they’d be your customers. Basically a “bug bounty” program for underwriters of tenancy in common real estate.

triceratops 5y ago

Pretty sure there's some law in the US where you get a percentage of the judgement if you whistleblow. Maybe it's specific to the finance industry. Someone help me out.

MattGaiser 5y ago
The SEC does. https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-266 https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-266
- triceratops 5y ago
  Thanks
elliekelly 5y ago
They’re called qui tam suits[1] and in the US they’re commonly brought under the False Claims Act[2] which can apply to any government contractor but Medicare Fraud is a big piece. The way it works is the “whistleblower” files a civil suit with the allegations and then the government can choose whether or not they want to take over the case. If the government think your allegations are solid and the potential recovery is worth their while they’ll take the case and you’re entitled to 10% of anything they ultimately recover. If, for whatever reason, the government decides not to get involved, you can continue the case on your own (but kind of on behalf of the government... it’s a bit weird how it works) and anything you recover goes to the government but you get 30% for your trouble. The SEC also has a whistleblower program that another commenter has linked and, as of recently, they have really been paying out a lot of money to whistleblowers. Larger sums and more frequent payouts than we’ve ever seen before. [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui_tam https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui_tam [2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Claims_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Claims_Act