by David Colapinto and Geoff Schweller
Left to right: David Colapinto and Geoff Schweller.(Photos courtesy of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP)
In recent weeks, a number of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices (USAOs) across the country have rolled out “Whistleblower Pilot Programs” offering the potential of non-prosecution agreements in exchange for voluntary self-disclosure of criminal conduct by participants in non-violent offenses. These “whistleblower” programs, announced within the same timeframe as the Department of Justice’s new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, can sow confusion among would-be-whistleblowers as well as attorneys and pose significant risks to corporate informants as these Pilot Programs differ greatly from other well-known corporate whistleblower programs, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program.