Whistleblowers Welcomed: DOJ's Corporate Whistleblower Award Program Adds New Categories

DOJ expanded its focus on corporate fraud in 2025, adding new areas to investigate under the Corporate Whistleblower Award (CWA) Pilot Program.

The CWA was originally launched in August of 2024 as an enforcement tool to target areas of fraud neglected by other whistleblower programs, boost corporate investigations and prosecutions, and encourage whistleblowers to come forward.

Whistleblowers who report corporate fraud to the CWA may receive a share of any funds recovered from fraudsters. The program takes a page out of the Securities and Exchange Commission's own whistleblower program, which has generated over $6.3 billion in monetary sanctions and over $2.2 billion in awards for whistleblowers.

At its inception the CWA only covered four categories of fraud, but four more categories were added following Donald Trump's inauguration in 2025 — signaling the administration's increased interest in the program and its goals.

Let's take a closer look at the recently added categories.

Violations by or through companies related to trade, tariff, and customs fraud

DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a Trade Fraud Task Force on August 29, 2025, intending that it "aggressively pursue enforcement actions against any parties who seek to evade tariffs and other duties, as well as smugglers who seek to import prohibited goods into the American economy."

Several agencies — DOJ's civil and criminal divisions, DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — will band together in the new task force. DOJ's announcement referenced three federal laws that the task force will primarily rely on to enforce compliance and prosecute violations:

1. The Tariff Act of 1930: prohibits the importation of goods made with forced labor and imposes financial penalties for inaccuracies in import declarations, negligence, gross negligence, or intent to defraud the government;
2. Title 18 of the U.S. Code: includes several statutes used to prosecute violations such as mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud; and
3. The False Claims Act (FCA): holds people and companies responsible for knowingly submitting false bills or claims to the government, with penalties that can include paying up to three times the amount of money defrauded plus additional fines for each false claim.

DOJ's creation of the new task force follows three recent FCA settlements. On July 23, 2025, DOJ announced a $6.8 million settlement with two US-based subsidiaries of MGI International LLC for alleged failures to pay customs duties on plastic resin imported from China. MGI disclosed to the government that its subsidiaries had hidden the country of origin for certain resin products for five years, thereby avoiding payments owed to the CBP.

The other two cases involved companies allegedly trying to skirt around antidumping and countervailing (AD/CV) duties. The U.S. government imposes these duties to protect domestic companies from unfair competition, either by discouraging foreign companies from "dumping" products into the U.S. at prices much lower than market value or by offsetting foreign government subsidies that allow imported goods to be sold at artificially low prices. In July of 2025 Grosfillex Inc. agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle allegations that it intentionally misclassified products made with Chinese-imported materials on U.S. customs forms to make them exempt from AD/CV duties. Allied Stone Inc. agreed to a $12.4 million settlement with DOJ less than a month later for similar allegations of merchandise misclassification.

These recent settlements — combined with the new task force and the CWA program — illustrate the Trump administration prioritizing enforcement actions related to trade, tariff, and customs fraud. Falsification of any of the following information can mean a monetary loss for the government and may be of particular interest for investigations:

• Product Classification: The government maintains a Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which lists the proper code to be assigned to an imported good. This code establishes the payment level (i.e., duty) assigned to that specific good and determines whether additional duty requirements — such as AD/CV duties — apply;
• Country of Origin: Given that trade and tariff agreements are country-dependent, different countries of origin will have different payment assessments; and
• Product Value: The declared product value may determine the specific tariff or duty owed for said product.

DOJ encourages whistleblowers to use all relevant channels to submit information regarding trade fraud: the FCA, the CWA, and the Trade Fraud Task Force. Depending on the violations, whistleblowers may be able to file a lawsuit and claim a reward under the well-established FCA, and they may be able to get more monetary rewards if they report it to the CWA program as well.

Violations by or through companies related to federal immigration law

Nearly 500 foreign nationals, including over 300 South Korean citizens, were arrested in a recent raid that PBS News called "the largest single-site raid this country has ever seen." Several federal agencies — including HSI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — conducted the raid on September 4, 2025, at a Hyundai and LG Energy Solution battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. The government asserted the foreign nationals were present in the U.S. without the proper visa to match their job duties.

There are dozens of different visas in the U.S., with two primary categories: immigrant visas for permanent residence and nonimmigrant visas for temporary stays. B-1 visas are an example of a temporary visa. These visas are intended for business purposes, such as attending a conference or negotiating business deals.

B-1 visas generally only allow people to stay in the U.S. for a maximum of one year. Foreign workers who need to stay longer would apply for an H-1B visa instead. H-1B visas are reserved for people in "specialty occupations." Those are jobs that require at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and the application of highly specialized knowledge in a specific field — such as medicine or engineering.

Because the H-1B visa has stricter criteria, companies sometimes violate federal immigration rules to get around it. Workers required to work under H-1B visas may instead be brought in fraudulently through a B-1 visa or the U.S. State Department's visa waiver program, which allows citizens of participating countries to stay in the U.S. for tourist or business visits of 90 days or less without a visa.

DOJ's taking a lead role in immigration fraud is a new development, but the government has obtained significant recoveries through ICE. Infosys Limited, an Indian consulting company, paid $34 million in 2013 to settle claims that it brought foreign workers into the U.S. under B-1 visas instead of H-1B visas. In April 2025, an ICE investigation into a potential $126 million illegal staffing and money laundering operation resulted in seized assets for the U.S. The operation allegedly involved about 40 entities facilitating the harboring, transportation, and illegal employment of foreign workers at various factories.

Other types of immigration fraud like sham marriages or inaccurate documents could be investigated, but the recent Georgia raid indicates DOJ may have a particular interest in visa fraud. Potential whistleblowers may be eligible to receive substantial monetary awards through the CWA program if they are able to provide detailed information about similar large-scale immigration fraud schemes.

Violations by or through companies related to sanctions offenses, material support of terrorism, or cartels and transnational criminal organizations including money laundering, narcotics, Controlled Substances Act, and other violations

The U.S. sanctions individuals, entities, or countries for a wide array of reasons such as human rights violations, terrorism, or cybercrime. Unlawfully dealing with embargoed countries or sanctioned individuals — by providing goods or services, including trade or financial services, for example — would be a sanction violation. In 2024 Raytheon Company, a subsidiary of Virginia-based defense contractor RTX, agreed to pay over $950 million to resolve allegations that it accepted foreign bribes and violated export controls, which are a type of sanction. In 2023 DOJ reached a $629 million settlement with British American Tobacco after the company was accused of illegally selling products to North Korea.

Money laundering refers to the illegal process of disguising the origins of money obtained from criminal activity to make it appear as if it came from a legitimate source. DOJ can fine criminal enterprises engaged in money laundering up to $500,000 or twice the amount of funds involved in the scheme, whichever is greater.

Narcotics violations can either be the possession or the manufacturing and distribution of illegal drugs. DOJ's CWA program may be more interested in the latter, which is likely to result in larger monetary gain. In 2024 the U.S. collected over $2 billion in gross revenue through asset forfeiture programs, which allow the government to take property involved in a crime. The vast majority of cash and vehicle seizures involves narcotics, so a substantial amount of the revenue probably involved narcotics violations.

The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) regulates drugs to protect public health. Drugs are classified into five categories — a.k.a. "schedules" — based on their legitimate medical purpose, potential for abuse, and potential for physical or psychological dependence. Prescriptions for controlled substances must include the following details:

• Drug name
• Dosage form
• Quantity prescribed
• Issue date
• Patient's name and address
• Practitioner's name and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration number

CSA violations can occur when the prescription information is falsified to facilitate trafficking of controlled substances. In April of 2025 Walgreens agreed to a $300 million settlement with DOJ, DEA, and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The settlement resolved allegations that Walgreens violated the CSA by filling millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances and violated the FCA by seeking payment for those illegal prescriptions from Medicare and other federal health care programs. DOJ obtained a $400 million settlement from Rite Aid for similar allegations the previous year.

Violations by or through companies related to fraud against, or the deception of, the United States in connection with federally funded contracting or federal programs, where such fraud does not involve health care or illegal health care kickbacks

The federal FCA allows DOJ to combat fraudulent claims for payment submitted to the government or government-funded programs. In 2024 DOJ recovered nearly $3 billion in FCA settlements and judgments. A little over half of that was attributed to health care fraud recoveries, but nearly $1.3 billion involved other federally contracted programs. This includes defense contracts, research grants, cybersecurity contracts, and federally funded financial aid.

There are significant areas of overlap between the FCA and this new category of the CWA program. DOJ has historically relied on the FCA to fight against fraud, but the CWA program may fill gaps in FCA law and allow DOJ more time and funds to dedicate towards investigations. It is unknown how (or if) DOJ will distinguish between fraud that should be reported through the CWA program versus the FCA.

Potential whistleblowers may want to report fraud against the government through both avenues as the CWA and the FCA both offer monetary awards.

The federal government sends a loud and clear message with these four new categories, specifically that whistleblowers should submit information about a vast array of fraud schemes. Reported information may lead to a financial award for the whistleblower of up to 30% of the first $100 million recovered, with decreasing percentages thereafter.

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