Deciding to expose the criminal activities of your colleagues is not easy. Whistleblowers probably grapple with the pros and cons over a period of weeks or months. Will I lose all respect in my community? Will I get fired? Will they deny it? Will it completely ruin my career? Will I be implicated if I don’t speak up? How could I live with myself if I were to keep quiet.
In 2006, Congress passed a law which allows the IRS to reward whistleblowers who expose tax cheats. Therefore, in the context of tax fraud and tax crimes, there is another layer of questions to consider: will the reward help to offset the negative consequences? Six years later many whistleblowers are still waiting for an answer to this question because of the IRS’ inaction. I suppose it should come as no surprise that the IRS is really good at collecting money, but very bad at paying it out.
Such is the case of Joseph Insigna, former executive at Rabobank Group, who exposed his employer for helping several U.S. companies avoid paying taxes. Insigna filed his whistleblower claim in 2007 and to this date there is still no word from the IRS about whether or not he has a compensable claim. His patience has finally run thin and he has, with the help of a tax attorney, filed a lawsuit against the IRS to see if he can finally get a determination.