The Department of Justice very actively pursues cases involving fraud in the banking industry, and through a law known as the Financial Institutions Anti-Fraud Enforcement Act, is authorized to pay very substantial rewards to whistleblowers that provide the Department of Justice with information about such fraud.

The law covers both fraud on banks, but also fraud by banks.  It also covers other types of unlawful conduct effecting banking, such as embezzlement of bank funds, or the payment of kickbacks to bank loan officers.

Under this banking whistleblower program, the Department of Justice can pay whistleblower awards of up to 30% of the amounts recovered by the government in banking fraud cases.

The law has a number of very unique procedures that govern how information has to be presented to the Department of Justice, which must be followed by a whistleblower who wishes to preserve his or her right to receive a reward. The whistleblower must also file a sworn statement with the Department of Justice, here in Washington, D.C. at its main headquarters, pursuant to those procedures.  It is also recommended that a qui tam whistleblower under this banking fraud program submit a legal memorandum to the Department of Justice, explaining the legal theories behind the case.