A former Monsanto executive who tipped the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to misleading accounting surrounding sales of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide has been awarded more than $22 million from the agency's whistleblower program.
The $22 million award is the second-largest total the SEC has awarded a whistleblower. The SEC credited the whistleblower’s “detailed tip and extensive assistance” with helping to stop a “well-hidden fraud” at Monsanto company. The award of exactly $22,437,800 was tied to an $80 million settlement between the SEC and Monsanto in February.
The attorney, who represented the whistleblower, said his client went to the SEC only after first trying to correct the issues internally.
“Company employees are in unique positions behind-the-scenes to unravel complex or deeply buried wrongdoing. Without this whistleblower’s courage, information, and assistance, it would have been extremely difficult for law enforcement to discover this securities fraud on its own,” said Jane Norberg, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.
So far, the SEC has awarded more than $107 million to 33 whistleblowers. The SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.
