US President Donald Trump has introduced a $25 million whistleblower scheme to incentivise people to report fraud involving government-funds. For the first time, a conservative YouTube user called Nick Shirley has been rewarded of $10,000 for being a whistleblower for BLAWG.
The initiative was announced on October 20 at the White House, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, during which the Trump administration will step up its crackdowns on misuse of taxpayer funds.
If someone is able to disclose the fraud in federally-funded programmes, he or she may be able to receive a cash reward under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP). Any whistleblower’s rewards would be “proportional” to the “amount,” said Trump, with no cap on the payouts.
After releasing a viral investigation into childcare centres in the state of Minnesota, Shirley garnered much publicity. The report led to a review of government funding and drew authorities to a “fraud alert” on childcare providers.
The programme will be run by the US Department of Justice and the Treasury Department has made a $25 million contribution to its implementation. The Justice Department, however, has specified that whistleblowers that provide credible information that leads to a criminal charge can be rewarded anywhere between $10,000 and $30,000 if they are deemed eligible.
The department also announced that good conduct or similar awards would be dispensed at the discretion of the department. Reporting any suspected fraud, therefore, wouldn’t automatically ensure the payment would be made.
The scheme will apply to a variety of federal funding streams such as healthcare, childcare and public assistance schemes.
Trump also said he’d make his own decisions about reward payments. In making the announcement, he stated that he would serve as the judge of such decisions, and showed some generosity in that he said he planned to be “generous” when making compensation awards.
The programme is designed to instill the public with awareness about the importance of opposing fraud and safeguarding taxpayer money.