National Whistleblower Center: Whistleblowers Still the Best at Detecting Fraud

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 17, 2007
3:00 PM

CONTACT: National Whistleblower Center
David K. Colapinto: (202) 342-6980
Stephen M. Kohn (202) 342-6980
Marshall D. Chriswell (202) 342-1903
 
Whistleblowers Still the Best at Detecting Fraud
Major Audit Firm Releases Corporate Crime Survey Results
 

WASHINGTON - October 17 - A comprehensive survey of 5,400 corporate executives in 40 nations, released by the financial services firm of Price Waterhouse, found that whistleblowers are the single most effective resource in detecting corporate fraud.

According to the survey, while professional auditors were only able to detect 19% of the frauds on private corporations, whistleblowers exposed 43%. Moreover, the executives surveyed estimated that the whistleblowers saved their shareholders billions of dollars.

“This survey is proof that corporate shareholders directly benefit from whistleblower disclosures. Instead of firing the whistleblower, this survey demonstrates that corporate culture should change,” Stephen M. Kohn, President of the National Whistleblower Center.

“Congress must do its job and enact comprehensive whistleblower protections. Corporations must change their own operating culture and stop retaliating against honest employee whistleblowers. Who loses when a whistleblower is fired? The taxpayers and the shareholders,” added Kohn.

The Price Waterhouse Survey is consistent with statistics released by the U.S. Department of Justice, demonstrating that employee whistleblowers are responsible for detecting the majority of civil frauds collected by the United States from unscrupulous and dishonest government contractors.

The Price Waterhouse Corporate Crime survey can be found at www.pwc.com/crimesurvey/index.html

Since 1988 the NWC has championed whistleblower protection. The NWC is currently assisting Bunnatine Greenhouse (the former Army Corps of Engineers top contracting officer who opposed the no-bid multi billion dollar contracts awarded to Halliburton for the reconstruction of Iraq) and Mr. Bassem youssef, the FBI agent who demanded that the FBI's counterterrorism program comply with the laws concerning National Security Letters.

###