SEC awards whistleblower $5.5 million

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it has awarded more than $5.5 million to a whistleblower who provided critical information that helped the agency uncover an ongoing scheme.

The SEC said the whistleblower worked at the company involved in the wrongdoing and reported the information directly to the SEC, which brought a successful enforcement action to end the scheme.

The SEC does not reveal whistleblowers’ names.

“Whistleblowers play a key role in bringing wrongdoing to the SEC’s attention, and this whistleblower helped prevent further harm to a vulnerable investor community by boldly stepping forward while still employed at the company,” Jane Norberg, chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, said in a statement.

The SEC’s whistleblower program has awarded about $142 million to 38 whistleblowers since it issued its first award in 2012.

According to a list issued by the SEC last month, the $5.5 million would rank among the top 10 awards it has issued under its whistleblowing program.