July 24, 2025

➡️Move on up! Our New York City office moved a few blocks uptown into the historic Helmsley Building. We are now located at 230 Park Ave, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10169.

📰 In addition to our office update, we have plenty of whistleblower-related news and government enforcement actions to report this week.

⚖️The Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced its new Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program. We blogged about the key elements and how to become a whistleblower under this program.

 💸 Three new SEC orders awarded a total of $7.5 million to five whistleblowers. We highlighted a few main takeaways from the orders.

🚢A Connecticut-based company pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). The government relies on whistleblowers to report illegal ocean dumping. 

 🗣️ The DOJ announced the final False Claims Act recovery in a cancer genetic testing kickback scheme involving the Medicaid programs of three states. Read more about the government securing $114.5M in recoveries and how a whistleblower initiated this action. 

  DOJ Launches Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program

On July 8, the DOJ Antitrust Division announced its creation of the Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program, which “will offer rewards for individuals who report antitrust crimes and related offenses that harm consumers, taxpayers, and free market competition across industries from healthcare to agriculture.” DOJ is partnering with the Postal Service on this new initiative.

Read the full story here.

  SEC Issues Three Orders Granting a Total of $7.5 Million in Whistleblower Awards

On July 16, the SEC published three new orders determining whistleblower awards. Per the SEC’s usual practice, the orders are heavily redacted to protect, among other things, the confidentiality of the whistleblowers who provided the tips to the SEC. Nevertheless, a few important takeaways can be found by reading through the (redacted) lines.

Read the full story here.

 Government Secures $114.5M In False Claims Act Recoveries From Cancer Genetic Testing Kickback Scheme

Last Thursday (July 17), the DOJ announced the final False Claims Act recovery in a cancer genetic testing kickback scheme involving the Medicaid programs of Colorado, Georgia, and South Carolina. Kevin Murdock, former owner and CEO of the now-defunct testing lab Premier Medical, agreed to a consent judgment of roughly $27.5 million.

Read the full story here.

 Ocean Dumping Whistleblowers Wanted

On July 16, the DOJ announced that Connecticut-based Eagle Ship Management pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) by deliberately polluting U.S. waters off the coast of New Orleans from its maritime vessel the Gannet Bulker. The company likely will pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and be subject to external audits by an independent technical expert. The chief engineer of the ship was separately sentenced to a year in prison.

Read the full story here.

In Case You Missed It:

• DOJ Announces False Claims Act Working Group Targeting Healthcare Fraud, Sending the Call Out For Whistleblowers to Help
  
  
• Whistleblower Question of the Week: What’s the Risk in Waiting to Blow the Whistle?
  
  
• Hill Associates to Pay $14.75 Million to Settle False Claims Act Charges of Cybersecurity and Other IT Contract Failures