The SEC announced on Wednesday that three whistleblowers, whose identities remain anonymous, will receive an award under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program for providing information that allowed the agency to successfully bring a case against Locust Offshore Management LLC and its chief executive, Andrey C. Hicks. The agency filed an enforcement action based on the whistleblowers’ information in October 2011–two months after the Dodd-Frank program became operational–alleging that Mr. Hicks misled investors about his credentials and diverted investor assets to his personal bank account. According to the SEC press release, the information provided by the first two whistleblowers allowed the SEC to stop the fraud before more investors were harmed. The third whistleblower’s information allowed the SEC to identify key witnesses. In March 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered the defendants to pay almost $7.5 million in disgorgement and penalties. The whistleblowers will share 15 percent of the amount collected by the government.

Read the entire article, “SEC Makes Second-Ever Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Award”
Read the SEC press release, “SEC Announces Whistleblower Action”