The Evidence Must Be Concrete and Specific
Hunches and beliefs will not suffice to support guilt in a case. The evidence must offer proof of the guilt or negligence being demonstrated by the violating individual or organization. This does not mean that the evidence requires written email, letter, video or other types of specific documentation to prove the offense; however, having these to support your claim helps to increase the likely of a achieving the appropriate verdict and can be necessary in order to get the Department of Justice and related entities to engage. The greater the amount of proof and supporting evidence, the greater the chance of bringing the violator to justice, returning tax payer money to the government and receiving your reward.
The Evidence Must Be Original
The whistleblower or individual reporting the fraud violation does not necessarily have to have witnessed the crime firsthand, however, it cannot be evidence based upon information gathered from public sources such as an announcment made on TV, a report found on the the internet or an article discovered in a public newspaper. These public sources can be used as support in some cases as long as the reporting individual can reveal how he/she was able to use these public sources in a uniquely revealing manner that helps confirm the fraud the invidividual is reporting. In the end, the whistleblower must provide unique information that the government does not already have itself or could not otherwise gather itself from public sources or other government agencies.
The Claim Must Be Brought Within the Statute of Limitations
In other words, generally speaking the claim must be reported within 6 years of when it occurred to be viable in accordance with the False Claims Act. However, various states have their own industry specific whistleblower laws where some claims must be made within 30 days though some allow up to 6 years for the whistleblower to file their report. These statute time frames are subject to change.
When a securities claim is reported to the SEC in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act, claimes tyically need to be made within 3 years of the violation. This time frame is also applicable to claims made to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (USCFTC).
The Reporting Individual Must Be the First to File the Claim
Although a whistleblower may be within the statute of limitations and be providing high quality, original evidence, it is also important that the reporting entity be the first file the claim. The US government only rewards one person, and only the first person who comes forward to talk to them about it is allowed to file the claim based upon the same facts. So it is important to get your case reported early. The reporting timeframe however does not start when the inidividual brings the claim to OffRecord. It begins instead when the DOJ has been notified of the potential claim. It is important however that the the whistleblower make his decision to report this information to OffRecord or a similar organization shortly after the knnown event has occured. That prevents others from reporting the violation and capturning the reward ideally meant for you. Some whistleblowers choose to form a group so to present the case together.