New DOJ Whistleblower Program Goes Live

Justice Department Trial Program Offers Millions for Tips on Fraud, Bribery

In a call with reporters on Thursday, Justice Department officials said they sought to design a program that fills gaps between pre-existing award programs. They pointed to a $4.3 billion settlement with global cryptocurrency exchange Binance over its failure to register as a money-transmitting business and a $1.2 billion settlement with commodities giant Glencore over foreign bribery violations as examples of cases that other award programs didn’t cover.

Programs at the SEC, IRS and other agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are limited in scope, and don’t address the “full range of corporate and financial misconduct that the Justice Department prosecutes,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.

“With this program, we’re doubling down on a proven strategy to ferret out criminal activity that might otherwise go unreported,” Monaco added.

Under the program launched Thursday, a whistleblower is only eligible for an award from the Justice Department if the person isn’t already eligible for an award from another agency.

The program also contains other caveats: Tipsters can’t be meaningfully involved in the misconduct at question, or have obtained the information through their work as a compliance officer or internal auditor of a company.

How Many Red Flags Did My Aunt Adele Need On Her Madoff Statements?

At the end of the day, while the Aunt Adeles of the world should have done some due diligence, her consistent 14-15% annual returns were nothing compared to Bernie’s oldest and “special” customers. They routinely enjoyed a whopping 30-50% on their money. Many would even receive Christmas or Hanukkah gelt in their accounts in the form of phantom trades. [DiPascali had a folder he titled “Schupt”—a misspelling of Shtup, a Yiddish adjective meaning “pushed, or plugged or slipped in”—particularly in the context of sex.] Each December starting in the mid-1990s, the accounts in that folder received a huge inflow of fake profits (shtup!) to go on top of the rest of the year’s fake profits. The last thing these people wanted to conduct was due diligence.

But what can we say about the average adult, those who want to protect their money and grow it—with annual returns that are “good enough to be true,” and without getting stung by swindlers? “The lack of financial literacy is staggering,” laments Dubinsky. “Most people in this country have no idea how to balance their checkbook, much less understand the intricacies of owning investments in the stock market. Then add in that scammers always have the upper hand in duping people and the average person is a sitting duck.”

Amazon says distraction of Olympics, Trump shooting hit weak guidance

Amazon is pointing to an unusually busy news cycle as one of the drivers behind its weak revenue forecast.

On a call with reporters following the company’s second-quarter earnings report on Thursday, Amazon finance chief Brian Olsavsky said one reason the company expects a slippage in online shopping this quarter is because consumers are distracted. There’s the Paris Olympics, which began last month and continues through Aug. 11, as well as the ramp-up to the U.S. presidential election in November.

Securities Class Action Filing Activity Increased in First Half of 2024

The number of securities class action filings increased in the first half of 2024 relative to the second half of 2023, according to a report released today by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse.

The report, Securities Class Action Filings—2024 Midyear Assessment, found that plaintiffs filed 112 securities class actions in federal and state courts in the first half of 2024, an increase from the 103 class actions filed in the second half of 2023. The number of core filings—those without merger and acquisition (M&A) allegations—in 2024 H1 (110) was above the number of core filings in 2023 H2 (101) and the historical semiannual average (96). Tracking of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) trend category began; there were six such filings in the first half of 2024. The number of filings in all other trend categories—including Cryptocurrency—is on pace to decline in 2024, except for COVID-19-related filings, which are on pace to increase.

Harris cannot afford to cede crypto to Trump

This will be the first US electoral cycle in which crypto policy is going to play a major role. At present, only one party has done anything to court the crypto community. Kamala Harris must lay out her own agenda for cryptoassets or she risks ceding the ground entirely to the Republicans.

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If Harris takes the forthcoming Democratic National Convention as an opportunity to adopt a conciliatory approach towards the crypto industry, treating it as more than a haven for illicit finance and investment scams, and promises to throw her weight behind the crypto regulation bills, that would go a long way towards eating into the industry support Trump is gathering.

There is little to be lost, and potentially much to be gained. Few will abandon the Democrats because they show support for the growth of the crypto industry – particularly when the Republicans have already done so. But luring some of the votes and donations from crypto supporters and donors away from the Republican camp, could make a difference in key battleground states.

Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Aims to Revive Black Wall Street in Boston

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is beginning his bid to recreate Black Wall Street in Boston.

Brown, 27, is launching Boston XChange, a nonprofit organization that plans to build generational wealth and cultural innovation in Black and Brown communities.

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Brown has said that he wants to use his platform to create a modern-day version of Black Wall Street, a Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was one of the country’s wealthiest in the early 20th century. In 1921, it was burned down, with hundreds of Black Tulsans killed and thousands left homeless.