12 U.S.C. § 4204: Ineligibility to file valid…

Summary

A declaration is valid unless one of a few things is true. It is not valid if a current or former government worker learned the information while doing their job; if the filer helped commit the fraud being reported; if a bank insider hid information during a required exam or probe; if a close family member of the person being reported filed it or someone who could benefit did; or if the information was already public unless the filer was the original source. "Original source" means someone who had direct, independent knowledge and told the government before the public disclosure. If the Attorney General finds a declaration invalid, not properly filed, or improperly disclosed, they must tell the filer in writing and the filer loses the rights given elsewhere in the law.

Title 12, §4204

Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

A declaration filed pursuant to section 4201 of this title and in accordance with section 4202 and 4203 of this title is valid unless—

(1)the declaration is filed by a current or former officer or employee of a Federal or State government agency or instrumentality who discovered or gathered the information in the declaration, in whole or in part, while acting within the course of the declarant’s government employment;

(2)the declaration is filed by a person who knowingly participated in the violation of section 1517 of title 18 or any of the sections of title 18 referred to in section 1833a(c) of this title, or any other fraudulent conduct with respect to which the declaration is made;

(3)the declaration is filed by an institution-affiliated party (as defined in section 1813(u) of this title) who withheld information during the course of any bank examination or investigation authorized pursuant to section 1820 of this title which such party owed a fiduciary duty to disclose;

(4)the declaration is filed by a member of the immediate family of the individual whose activities are the subject of the declaration or where, in the discretion of the Attorney General, it appears the individual could benefit from the award; or

(5)the declaration consists of allegations or transactions that have been disclosed to a member of the public in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, in a congressional, administrative, or Government Accountability Office report, hearing, audit or investigation, by any other government source, or by the news media, unless the person providing the declaration is the original source of the information.

(b)“Original source” defined

For the purposes of subsection (a)(5), the term “original source” means a person who has direct and independent knowledge of the information contained in the declaration and who voluntarily provided the information to the government prior to the disclosure.

(c)Notice of invalidity

If the Attorney General determines at any time that a declaration is invalid under this section, that a declaration fails to meet the requirements of section 4202 of this title, or that a declaration has been disclosed in violation of section 4203 of this title, the Attorney General shall notify the person who filed the declaration in writing that the declaration is invalid, and the declarant shall not enjoy any of the rights of the declarant listed in section 4205 or 4206 of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 4201 of this title, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “section 811”, and was translated as reading “section 2561”, meaning section 2561 of Pub. L. 101–647, as the probable intent of Congress, because Pub. L. 101–647 does not contain a section 811.

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 108–271 substituted “Government Accountability Office” for “General Accounting Office”.

§4204 Ineligibility to File Valid Declarations