Nicolas Mendoza Moderates Panel on New DOJ Corporate Whistleblower Program and Criminal Enforcement at TAF Coalition Conference
Murphy Anderson’s Nicolas Mendoza moderated a panel on “Criminal and Parallel Enforcement” at The Anti-Fraud Coalition’s 26th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.
Mendoza led a discussion with Justin Woodard, Deputy Chief for the National Fraud Enforcement Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ); Kristen M. Echemendia, Assistant Director at the Commercial Litigation Branch in the Civil Division of DOJ; and Janis Gorton of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim.
The panel discussed DOJ's new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (CWAPP), which was launched to incentivize reporting of corporate crime and fill gaps between other whistleblower programs. The panel also explored the circumstances when a False Claims Act case leads to a criminal investigation, and how DOJ coordinates between parallel enforcement measures. Panelists addressed the strategic questions criminal enforcement raises for whistleblowers and their counsel, including timing, disclosure obligations, discovery constraints, and the whistleblower's reward ("relator share") when a criminal case recovers money for the government.
The conference brought together whistleblower attorneys, government enforcement officials, and whistleblowers from across the country.