Former Monsanto Employee Gets $22 Million for Assisting the Government
Being patriotic isn’t just the right thing to do. Sometimes, it pays too. A former executive at the agriculture company, Monsanto, is being paid $22.5 million for serving as a “whistleblower” to the government by alerting it to securities fraud. The former executive, whose name is not being released, alerted the SEC to Monsanto’s misstatements of earnings on three annual earnings reports. Monsanto settled the case with the SEC, agreeing to pay an $80 million penalty. $22.5 million is the whistleblower’s share of the $80 million penalty.
Whistleblower, or Qui Tam, cases are those in which people notify the government that it being lied to or harmed by corporations. The government, in appreciation for the whistleblower’s patriotism, will return 15% – 20% of any settlement amount it collects. The process is not overly complicated – the whistleblower hires an attorney who files thecase confidentially for the government to review. If the government chooses to pursue the case, it will take over from there.
If you have information that a company is lying to or defrauding the government, you may be in position to serve the United States of America as a whistleblower. Plattner Verderame, PC is well-equipped to handle these cases and will gladly review your potential claim. We are honest attorneys who spend our days helping honest clients.
Nick is a member of the State Bar of Arizona, the Arizona Association for Justice (formerly the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association) and the American Association for Justice (AAJ). He currently serves on the AAJ’s Political Action Task Force and its Oversight Committee, and on the Board of Governors for Revitalization in Arizona.
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