WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it is awarding more than $8 million to five whistleblowers whose information led to the successful resolution of an enforcement action against a fraudulent scheme.

“These whistleblowers reported to the CFTC soon after recognizing the fraud,” said Director of the Whistleblower Office Raagnee Beri. “Their contributions of information and assistance helped the CFTC bring and complete an enforcement action with a substantial recovery of funds for defrauded investors.”

“As I have said before, retail fraud is a high priority for the CFTC,” said Director of the Division of Enforcement David Miller. “Whistleblowers like today’s awardees enable the CFTC to hold perpetrators of fraud to account and deter future wrongdoing in the markets the CFTC oversees.” 

“Today’s awards aim to incentivize individuals with knowledge of violations of the Commodity Exchange Act to come forward to the CFTC,” said General Counsel Tyler Badgley. “Whistleblowers play a critical role in the CFTC’s oversight of market participants.”

About the CFTC’s Whistleblower Program

The Whistleblower Program was established under Section 748 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Since issuing its first award in 2014, the CFTC has awarded more than $430 million to whistleblowers. Those awards are associated with enforcement actions that have resulted in more than $3.7 billion in monetary sanctions.

The CFTC may issue whistleblower awards based on its own enforcement actions, as well as related actions brought by other domestic or foreign regulators, when certain conditions are met.

The Commodity Exchange Act provides confidentiality protections for whistleblowers. Whether or not CFTC issues an award, the agency does not disclose information that could reasonably be expected to reveal a whistleblower’s identity, except in limited circumstances. Consistent with these protections, the CFTC does not disclose the specific enforcement action or the exact award amount.

Eligible whistleblowers may receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected. All awards are paid from the CFTC’s Customer Protection Fund, which Congress established and is funded entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by CEA violators. No money is taken or withheld from harmed customers to fund the program.

Anyone with information related to potential CEA or CFTC violations may submit a tip electronically by filing a Form TCR (Tip, Complaint or Referral) online.

Visit Whistleblower.gov for more information about CFTC’s Whistleblower program.