Summary
Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Fraud Enforcement Division announced the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP), a three-year pilot program that provides fixed payments of $10,000 to $30,000 for qualifying tips that lead to criminal charges in specified fraud categories, including health care and certain federal benefit programs. According to DOJ, the Department of the Treasury is committing $25 million to support the program.
The Upshot
- Early-stage payments tied to charging decisions. WHIP is designed to pay rewards after DOJ files and unseals an indictment, information, or criminal complaint, rather than after final resolution, and the program does not impose a minimum loss threshold.
- Limits for compliance and senior personnel, with defined exceptions. Officers, directors, and personnel with compliance or internal audit responsibilities are generally excluded from eligibility based on how they obtained the information, but the guidance describes exceptions, including circumstances where disclosure is needed to prevent certain imminent harms or obstruction and where at least 120 days have elapsed after internal reporting to specified recipients.
- Company conduct may affect cooperation credit and enforcement risk. DOJ may consider retaliation against a reporting individual, or efforts to impede communications with DOJ (including enforcing or threatening to enforce certain confidentiality agreements), when evaluating cooperation credit, compliance programs, and potential obstruction issues. DOJ also states it may communicate directly with an employee who has initiated contact, without obtaining consent from the entity’s counsel.
The Bottom Line
Health care providers and organizations that receive or administer federal program funds should expect tips to reach prosecutors earlier. These companies should review internal reporting channels, investigation protocols, confidentiality agreements, and anti-retaliation policies, and be ready to make self-disclosure decisions promptly. Ballard Spahr attorneys can help clients assess exposure, strengthen compliance programs, and respond to internal reports and government inquiries.
On October 20, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division) announced the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP). DOJ describes WHIP as the first whistleblower rewards program to pay an up-front award for tips leading to criminal charges. The program follows Directive 26-12, issued October 1, which directed Fraud Division leadership to design programs that incentivize whistleblowers, including those who participated in the misconduct, to bring forward credible information about fraud. (See our Alert on Directive 26-12 here). A qualifying tipster may receive one reward of $10,000 to $30,000 for each distinct tip. Payment of these finder’s fees follows DOJ’s filing and unsealing of an indictment, information, or criminal complaint, and no minimum loss amount applies. Tipsters remain eligible for larger awards under other programs, such as the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program.
According to DOJ, the Department of the Treasury is committing $25 million to the program.
Program Overview
WHIP operates as the Fraud Division’s Criminal Tip Rewards Pilot Program, which has an initial three-year term and rests on DOJ’s authority under 28 U.S.C. § 530C(b)(1)(L). WHIP applies to information relating to federal health care offenses and related crimes, and fraud on programs or benefits administered by specified agencies (including the Departments of Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Education, Veterans Affairs, and the Small Business Administration). DOJ has stated that the program will prioritize submissions involving hospice, home health care, day care, and special services fraud.
Eligibility
Only individuals may qualify. Among other conditions, the tip must be voluntary, truthful, complete, and based on “original information” provided in writing, and the tipster must cooperate with the resulting investigation. Individuals who meaningfully participated in the criminal activity are ineligible, although the guidance provides that minimal participants may be considered at DOJ’s discretion.
How WHIP Differs From Existing Programs
DOJ frames WHIP’s main distinction as timing. Most existing government rewards programs pay only after final resolution, including forfeiture and appeals, which often take years. The Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, on the other hand, pays a percentage of forfeited assets after a successful prosecution. WHIP instead pays a fixed range at charging, regardless of the ultimate recovery.
Implications for Companies
Organizations in covered sectors should expect that credible information may reach prosecutors earlier in an investigation cycle. The guidance also highlights employer-related issues, including:
- potential cooperation-credit consequences and enforcement risk if a company retaliates against a reporting individual; and
- potential adverse consideration if an entity attempts to impede communications with DOJ, including through certain confidentiality-agreement enforcement.
For compliance and internal audit functions, the 120-day internal-reporting concept creates a defined period for an organization to assess and investigate an internal report before certain personnel may become eligible tipsters under the guidance’s exception framework.
Looking Ahead
WHIP tracks the priorities in Directive 26-12, which emphasizes health care and government program fraud and calls for policies that encourage disclosure. Because rewards turn on charges rather than the size of any recovery, the program reaches tips about schemes with little or no loss or a low likelihood of recovery.
DOJ has also said the covered categories could expand. Organizations in covered sectors should test hotlines and escalation procedures, review employment and separation agreements, reinforce anti-retaliation protections, and consider voluntary self-disclosure under DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy, which the Directive instructs Fraud Division prosecutors to follow.
Ballard Spahr’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group has robust experience advising public- and private-sector clients on navigating changing DOJ priorities, as well as responding to governmental requests, investigations, and civil enforcement proceedings.
We are currently advising clients on a host of these topics. Please contact us if we can assist you with advice and counsel on such matters, or in responding to active inquiries, investigations, or proceedings.
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