OREANDA-NEWS. The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the award of more than $22 million to a whistleblower whose detailed tip and extensive assistance helped the agency halt a well-hidden fraud at the company where the whistleblower worked.

The $22 million-plus award is the second-largest total the SEC has awarded a whistleblower. The largest, $30 million, was awarded in 2014.

“Company employees are in unique positions behind-the-scenes to unravel complex or deeply buried wrongdoing. Without this whistleblower’s courage, information, and assistance, it would have been extremely difficult for law enforcement to discover this securities fraud on its own,” said Jane Norberg, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. 

The SEC’s whistleblower program, which has been rewarding valuable information from tipsters since its inception in 2011, has now surpassed $100 million in total money awarded. More than $107 million has been awarded to 33 whistleblowers who became eligible for an award by voluntarily providing the SEC with original and useful information that led to a successful enforcement action.