U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. has announced the launch of the EDNC Whistleblower Pilot Program by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The program is designed to enhance efforts in identifying and prosecuting white-collar crime.
“In this office, we are focused on enhancing the identification and prosecution of white-collar crime,” said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. “The EDNC Whistleblower Pilot Program achieves that by incentivizing individuals to proactively come forward with information about crimes taking place within corporations. The benefit to the participant, if qualified, is avoiding prosecution. We encourage all who may have information on fraud, corruption, or corporate crime, to fill out the short form on our website.”
The initiative aims to promote early voluntary self-disclosure of criminal activities and ensure effective enforcement of laws by encouraging individuals to report misconduct involving public or private entities such as corporations and financial institutions. Covered subjects include fraud, corporate control failures, intellectual property theft, violations affecting market integrity, state or local bribery, and fraud related to federal or local funds.
Under this policy framework, whistleblowers who meet specific conditions may receive a deferred or non-prosecution agreement from the office. However, offenses involving violence are excluded from this policy.
By detailing these requirements and potential benefits of self-disclosure, the program hopes to motivate more individuals to share actionable information promptly.
A full copy of the policy and an intake form for applicants are available on their website.