Phillips & Cohen Says Appointment of Director for CFTC Whistleblower Office Gives Program a Jumpstart

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Jan 27, 2012, 12:54 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With the recent appointment of a director for the new Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Office, the CFTC has shown it is ready to move forward with its new whistleblower program, says whistleblower law firm Phillips & Cohen LLP.

The CFTC announced earlier this month that it hired Vincente Martinez as the first director of the CFTC's Whistleblower Office. Prior to coming to the CFTC, Martinez was Assistant Director in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement.

"The CFTC has long made clear from its statements and actions that it welcomes whistleblowers who know of misconduct in the commodity markets," said Erika A. Kelton, a Washington, DC, attorney with Phillips & Cohen. "With the appointment of Mr. Martinez, the CFTC has chosen someone with experience in enforcement who can jumpstart the program."

The CFTC has been given many new enforcement duties under the Dodd-Frank Act to protect the public from fraud and manipulation in the commodities market. This increased authority includes setting rules to reduce risk in the derivatives market, regulations that provide additional authority to prosecute Ponzi schemes in the retail commodities markets and other anti-manipulation and anti-fraud measures.

"Whistleblowers will make a major contribution to the enforcement of Dodd-Frank," said Eric R. Havian, a San Francisco attorney with Phillips & Cohen. "With the promise of large rewards and anonymity for whistleblowers, the CFTC program is sure to attract significant, detailed information from highly placed insiders."

Under the CFTC whistleblower program, whistleblowers are eligible for a reward of 10 percent to 30 percent if they provide information that results in sanctions exceeding $1 million. Such information may be provided anonymously to the CFTC through a lawyer or other representative, but whistleblowers must identify themselves to the CFTC before a reward will be given. See http://www.phillipsandcohen.com/SEC-Whistleblowers/SEC-and-CFTC-whistleblower-info.shtml

One of Phillips & Cohen's clients is a Minnesota whistleblower who provided information to the FBI, CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission that exposed and stopped a $160 million Ponzi scheme. He was featured in a New York Times story about the case. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/business/10whistle.html

About Phillips & Cohen LLP

Phillips & Cohen is the nation's most successful law firm representing whistleblowers, with more than $7 billion recovered in civil settlements and criminal fines from its cases. The law firm represents whistleblowers in "qui tam" (False Claims Act) cases and claims filed under the IRS, SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs. For its work on whistleblower cases, Phillips & Cohen was selected for the National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" for 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010. See http://www.phillipsandcohen.com.

SOURCE Phillips & Cohen LLP