Our team advocates for whistleblowers who report on violations in securities and commodities, investment frauds, and illegal activities like money laundering involving virtual currencies.
As cryptocurrencies have skyrocketed in popularity, so too has cryptocurrency fraud. As a result, U.S. agencies, specifically the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have increased enforcement efforts in the area.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is a department of the U.S. Treasury, has also increased enforcement of anyone involved in illicit activity such as money laundering through the use of crypto mixers and tumblers.
The whistleblower attorneys at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP can help individuals with information on potential cryptocurrency fraud safely blow the whistle to U.S. authorities.
Some of the frauds the SEC and CFTC are currently focused on include:
- Price manipulations, such as pump-and-dump schemes
- Initial Coin Offering or Initial Exchange Offering scams
- Pre-arranged or wash trading, or illegal swaps of futures contracts
- Virtual currencies marketing by unregistered persons
- False reporting, such as fictitious trading
- False representations of moneymaking opportunities
- Refusals to honor withdrawal requests
Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has unmatched expertise and experience in navigating the whistleblower award programs at the SEC, CFTC, and FinCEN. No one understands the rules of the programs better.
The partners of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto have been key players in the rulemaking processes for the whistleblower programs, meeting with SEC officials and filing numerous comments to help shape the program to better protect and award whistleblowers.
Our team also collaborated with the National Whistleblower Center and Whistleblower Network News on a successful grassroots campaign. This initiative was crucial in the enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering Improvement Act.
Allison H. Lee
Of Counsel
“[Whistleblowers] display extraordinary bravery to expose fraud and wrongdoing, and to shine light in some very dark places. In doing so, they reinforce our fundamental values – that the rule of law matters, and no one is, or should be, above the law… They help create transparency, and from transparency flows crucial accountability.”
Whistleblowers Fight Tremendous Odds and Deserve Better
Statement by Allison as SEC Commissioner, September 23, 2020
Read Full Statement
The SEC, CFTC, and AML Whistleblower Reward Programs
Through the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs, and the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) whistleblower program, qualified whistleblowers, individuals who voluntarily disclose original information cryptocurrency fraud that contribute to a successful enforcement action of at least $1 million, are entitled to monetary awards of 10-30% of the funds collected by the government.
Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto has successfully represented a number of whistleblowers who have received whistleblower awards under these programs. We have prevailed in multiple SEC whistleblower cases, resulting in over $125 million in final rewards.
SEC, CFTC, and AML whistleblowers reporting cryptocurrency fraud may also blow the whistle anonymously if they are represented by an attorney. Blowing the whistle anonymously helps protect the whistleblower from potential retaliation or harm, and it can also minimize personal and professional risks associated with exposing wrongdoing.
The whistleblower attorneys of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto have over 30 years experience in safely and thoroughly representing anonymous whistleblowers. This is why many of our cases, and those of other law firms, provide little to no detail about the whistleblower.
Fee’s for Hiring a Cryptocurrency Whistleblower Attorney
Most whistleblower law firms such as Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto work on a “contingency” basis, which means we agree to represent whistleblowers in exchange for obtaining a percentage of the final recovery.
In these cases, our clients are not required to pay any upfront attorney’s fees and owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain a recovery or award on their behalf. That means, we are on their side though it all at, no matter what the potential outcomes may be.
If you have original information about a cryptocurrency fraud that could lead to sanctions against a company or individual, contact us today for a confidential case review and take the first step towards making your whistleblower claim.
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