Fraud in association with the False Claims Act (FCA)
In accordance with the False Claims Act with fraud associated with a government organization, the individuals reporting the crime, if they have brought information which has led to the return of dollars to the government in a court of law, will be rewarded with 15 to 30% of the entire settlement paid. How that 15 to 30% may vary can be understood better by reviewing the primer provide from the Deparment of Justice. The amount is determined by the full discrestion of the judge, and he is supposed to base the amount paid upon the strength of the evidence brought to the table which enabled the dollars returned to the government. The total settlement includes the money saved - not only in the year of the crime but in the future looking years where the crime has been abated - the fines collected, the interest and other fees.
OffRecord and the individual providing the evidence to OffRecord will divide equally the rewards. Even it we win the case, it is likely wise if the person can manage to do so, to not disclose their involvement with the case or the rewards they have received through the process. This helps minimize the harassment or dislike someone can receive, despite their desire to do the right thing and bring a crime to light. OffRecord will seek out a way to pay you confidentially, so to assist you in protecting your identity as much as possible in this process.
Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Payment Description for False Claims Act
According to the Department of Justice, the following represents their description of how payments are made in various cases:
"If the government intervenes in the qui tam action, the relator is entitled to receive between 15 and 25 percent of the amount recovered by the government through the qui tam action. If the government declines to intervene in the action, the relator’s share is increased to 25 to 30 percent. Under certain circumstances, the relator’s share may be reduced to no more than ten percent. If the relator planned and initiated the fraud, the court may reduce the award without limitation. The relator’s share is paid to the relator by the government out of the payment received by the government from the defendant. If a qui tam action is successful, the relator also is entitled to legal fees and other expenses of the action by the defendant. All of these provisions are in §3730(d) of the FCA. The FCA also provides that if the government chooses to obtain a recovery from the defendant in certain types of proceedings other than the relator’s FCA suit, this is known as an alternate remedy and the relator is entitled to the same share of the recovery as if the recovery was obtained through the relator’s FCA suit."
Full DOJ primer found here: http://www.justice.gov/civil/docs_forms/C-FRAUDS_FCA_Primer.pdf
Corporate Fraud Rewards
Corporate fraud is NOT rewarded according to the Fair Claims Act and requires different types of actions on behalf of OffRecord to present the information to the appropriate indviduals and to work to see if we can position this reporting to achieve an appropriate reward. There are different ways OffRecord can look to present this information to through an SEC Violation or class action suit upon a public company that will yield a reward; additionally, channels exist within the Dodd Frank law to reward and protect whisteblowers as well; however, the mechanisms to do so in these areas relative to those covered by the Fair Claims Act are slightly more complex and challenging; but equally important to see through so that "wrongs are righted". Corporations can sometimes throw back suits at the proposing party, claiming it is blackmail, no matter how small the reward or noble the service is in its effort to prevent that corporation from losing money from futher fraud; however, if we use the appropriate channels, our aim is to avoid such contentious experiences and find the right channels to minimize this risk and shorten the time to seeing a positive outcome.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act authorized rewards in the whistleblower program to individuals who provide high-quality original information that leads to an SEC enforcement action in which more than $1 million in sanctions is ordered. These awards range from 10% to 30% of any of the money collected by the government, and also provide for increased anti-retaliation protection and requirements that help to further protect the identity of individuals working to support the system.
As cases come in, OffRecord will thoroughly review the options and risks associated with the various courses of actions on SEC-related claims in an attempt to choose the right channels in which to communicate the fraud. OffRecord will not accept all proposals and may choose to pass on certain cases. And many of the cases that are Corporate cases, have a reasonably strong chance of settling outside of court, particularly if the evidence strongly confirms the guilt of the accused. But these cases will generally require greater effort in bringing them to a positive closure, quickly and with the appropriate reward. By working with OffRecord, you are lowering the risk of your identity being discovered on the outside - even after the case is closed -- while attempting to right this wrong.
Details on Dodd Frank Act Compliance can be found at: https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/owb/dodd-frank-sec-922.pdf
Tax Fraud Rewards
There are two options in which the IRS will reward a reporting agent (a "relator", the role OffRecord often serves on your behalf):
The first method is for what the IRS refers to as "large rewards", and these are rewards for the whistleblower of 15% to 30% of the amount collected, but the total dollars collected by the government inclusive of the tax, penalties and interest must exceed $2 million. These rewards require the submission of a Form 211 “Award Claim Form” to the IRS in which you provide the IRS the needed information required to assisting them in confirming the tax amounts for which they are due. The IRS is does not allow the reporting entity to be anonymous, so there will be some challenges and risks when working through OffRecord to accomplish this goal; but OffRecord will do its best to ensure if a reward can be paid through OffRecord to you, that they work to maximize your reward for doing the right thing and helping the Government to right this wrong.
These rewards can be received from a variety of tax issues - whether the money the government has not previously received is due to fraud, abusive tax shelters, offshore tax havens, over-reaching tax shelters, estate tax evasion, gift tax fraud, corporate tax fraud, unrecognized taax benefits, tax-exempt bonds fraud or if the tax preparer himself attempts to defraud the government out of its money. Even if in the end, the IRS determines that the individual assumed a far-reaching position regarding a tax strategy for which the IRS disagrees and claims should be reimbursed by the payor, the claimant who reported this incident would qualify for a reward in this circumstance as well. It does not have to be fraud directly but the Tax Whistleblower reward applies to any underpayment of tax for which you assist the government in recapturing. This is in accordance with IRS Tax Whistleblower Program, IRC 7623.