Other Fraud Rewards

1. SEC Fraud

The securities and IPO markets are important to everyone, as citizens rely upon safe and reliable exchanges for consumers and businesses to buy and sell stocks, further securing their resources and future.  Those who are undermining the integrity and reliablity of these systems, are undermining the trust of a critical system to the American economy. Securities violations create substantial risk for everyone - investors, consumers and businesses alike.  The management of companies such as Enron, WorldComm, GM and Bear Sterns have all been found culpable and fined significantly for their illegal activities, with management often placed in jail and sometimes large corporations shut down. If employees and leaders had been willing to come forward sooner, millions of dollars, thousands of family's pensions and the companies themselves may have been saved.  Unfortunately these companies, it either took whistleblowers to long to realize what was happening or those that could have spoken up sooner simply did not have the courage or waited too long.  Had they come forward, the lives of everyone involved could have been impacted far more positively while the whistleblower themselves may have been rewarded for their actions. OffRecord has been created to assist in bearing some of that burden for whistleblowers so citizens speak up sooner, receiving some shield of protection to their identies while attempting to right the wrongs that should be corrected.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, also known as the SEC, has been created to protect investors from fraud while creating an environment they can trust in which to purchase and sell securities in US markets. In order to assist the SEC in better surveilling the markets for fraud, the SEC has enacted whistleblower programs that reward indviduals reporting known violations of the commission's rules and regulations.  These rules have proved to encourage insiders who have knowledge to come forward exposing fraud and known violations, saving the government and tax payers millions of dollars. 

Types of SEC Fraud

Examples of Security Fraud and related investment violations: 

• Insider trading, where an individual(s) who has information not shared with the broader public is making a buy or sell decision based upon knowledge not commonly shared across the market, giving this individual an unfair advantage in that transaction.  
• Accounting fraud, where publicly reported financial data on balance sheets, income statements and cash flows are intentionally misleading.
• Stealing customers’ funds or securities for personal use.
• Ponzi schemes where citizens believe they are buying one asset, yet they are merely being shown returns or stock information that essentially belongs to another individual.  No substantive asset underlies the purchase. 
• Selling unregistered securities whereby individuals are being sold stock which is not fully registered with the SEC or other appropriate entities.  
• Misrepresenting or omitting important information about securities or investments - sometimes companies have information that they withhold from all investors, creating an opportunity for the knowledgable to profit in the future.
• Manipulating the market price of securities for personal benefit, either up or down.
• Cornering a market of securities to be a market maker, driving price to benefit an individual unfairly. 
• Purporting to have insider information and sharing that false information with the hope of profiting unfairly by misleading the actions of another.

How Whistleblowers are Rewarded in Accordance with the SEC

SEC Whistleblowers are not covered in accordance with the False Claims Act but are instead rewarded in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  This law was passed in 2010 following the financial crisis of that period, enacting some of the most important financial regulations the industry has undergone to date.  A core provision in that law is Section 922 where it states that among other things, the law is required to:

• Reward whistleblowers who provide what is referred to as "original information", which means new evidence that leads to the prosecution of a criminal activity, which leads to recovery of SEC money in excess of $1 million.
• The individual reporting this violation, can be rewarded up to 30% of the dollars recovered by the SEC, an amount of which is at the full discretion of the SEC.  
• The rule allows the reporting individual to make this report anonymously if they have an attorney representing them; HOWEVER, when it is time to receive the reward, they must disclose who they are in order to receive the reward. OffRecord works to be your representative, and when we help you bring this case to closure and are rewarded, we will seek a manner to confidentially ensure you get your payment - - allowing you to have the maximum opportunity to protect your career, reputation and your livelihood.  We are that representative who has come forward so you don't have to. 
• It allows for reporting individuals to sue their employers if they are retaliated against for trying to assist the SEC in preventing a crime. 
• Unlike crimes reported under the False Claims Act, however, in SEC securities violations, if the reporting individual was a participant in aiding or abetting in the violation at some point, the SEC has the discretion to deny the reward to that individual.

If you are familiar with fraud and desire to report to the SEC but do not want to engage them yourself, perhaps out of concern for your career or other reason, feel free to contact OffRecord and we will evaluate the merits of your case and let you know within 48 working hours (two business days) if we believe we can help see this through to a successful settlement or court case.  We are not lawyers but a citizen representative who helps assemble for you the strongest legal team possible to ensure the highest chances of success while doing our part to protect you identity.  

2. Mortgage Loan Fraud

The SBA, also known as the Small Business Association, is a federally funded department of the government that provides financial assistance to small busineses through a variety of loan programs.  These programs guarantee up to 85% of the value of the loans provided through commercial lenders, so the commercial lenders have their risk greatly underwritten by the federal government.  Unfortunately, loan recipients and the lenders themselves can be motivated financially to distort the truth in order to capture those monies from the government for personal gain. These types of activities are fraud and the individual who reports such activities can be rewarded in accordance with the False Claims Act.   

Types of Small Business Fraud

• False certifications claiming a loan complies with SBA requirements when it does not.  
• Falsifying loan documents (providing false loan data) to mislead the SBA into approving loans which it should not. 
• Disregarding SBA rules, regulations and underwriting requirements when issuing loans to borrowers for the purpose of issuing money that they would otherwise be unqualified for.
• Withholding certain parts of information from the loan recipient or to the loan agent.
• Inflating appraisals of properties for the purposes of assisting loan recipient in receiving a loan which is larger than what the individual would otherwise be qualified to receive.
• Creating "false individuals" or "straw men buyers" in order to draft loans around non-existant people.
• Using the money received for purposes other than the loan's initial intention.

4.  Oil, Gas and Other Royalties Fraud

6.  Areas of Fraud not noted in Other Fraud Rewards

Any areas of fraud not specifically covered by any of the core seven fraud areas listed on the website or even described in this section, can be submitted on the Full or Short forms associated with "Other Fraud Rewards".   When in doubt, give us an overview and we will determine with you if the case is worthy of pursuing with OffRecord. 
 

Be Rewarded for Stopping Other Fraud
 

Stopping fraud and abuse in corporate America is everyone's responsiblity. Only when people can trust the leaders of our government and our corporations can we continue to expect people of the world to invest in our public companies and trust the American sytem. We need Americans and other citizens of the world, desiring to be shareholders and invest their savings in American companies to further their personal futures and enrich America by giving us the opportunity to serve others. By playing a part in holding our executives and political leaders accountable for serving shareholders and citizens responsibly, you are helping to make our country strong and worthy of further investment for future generations, improving the quality of life across our country for everyone. If you have knowledge of deception by a CEO, an executive, lawyer, accountant, banker, politician, or other government or corporate leader - perhaps even you yourself have been pressured into making a decision you now regret - then your desire to correct the error and fix the crimes can be rewarded.

Speak to someone with OffRecord to assess the merits of your claim and see if they are the right partner to help protect our public markets and engender further trust from global citizens which makes our nation healthier for everyone.  Most importantly, see if we can be the right partner to help protect your identity and career while changing behaviors that hurt our country and reward those that have the personal courage to resist these social pressures. For every dollar you save your corporation, the Dodd-Frank Act requires that the judge award 15% to 30% of that savings in a reward.  In some cases there are maximum time frames for which an SEC or related fraud violation can be reported; therefore, it is important for you to take action sooner rather than later.  We suggest you reach out and confidentially share your case with us, creating no obligation to work with OffRecord until and only if, you choose to do so.