Let’s be honest—if you work in AML compliance, you’ve probably seen a lot of things swept under the rug.
Maybe you’ve filed escalation after escalation only to have them closed with no explanation. Maybe your manager told you, “Let it go—this client is too important.” Maybe you’ve been written up or shut out for pushing too hard on a risk issue. Or maybe you’re just tired of being the only person in the room who actually seems to care about following the rules.
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone—and you might be sitting on a whistleblower claim worth millions.
Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) Whistleblower Program, professionals like you—people working inside compliance departments, fraud teams, and risk groups—can submit tips to the U.S. government and receive 10% to 30% of any monetary sanctions over $1 million that result. More importantly, you can do it confidentially or anonymously through an attorney, and there are federal protections against retaliation.
Here’s what you need to know.
If You’ve Seen These Things, You Might Have a Case
Most people think you need to witness something explosive to be a whistleblower. But AML professionals know the misconduct is rarely loud—it’s usually subtle, systemic, and deliberate.
Here are specific examples of red flags we’ve seen in actual whistleblower cases:
- “No SAR Needed” Culture: You complete a write-up recommending a Suspicious Activity Report, only for your manager to override it with no real explanation—or worse, they tell you to reword your write-up to make it “less suspicious.”
- Sales-Driven Decisions: A high-revenue client is flagged for suspicious transfers from offshore shell companies. Instead of escalating, senior management asks you to “monitor” it quietly while keeping the client happy.
- Backlog Games: There’s a backlog of thousands of transaction alerts, and you’re told to “clear” them at a rate of 100 per day—with no meaningful review—just so the institution can look good on paper.
- Crypto On-Ramps with No Controls: The institution starts offering crypto-related services without updating their transaction monitoring rules, KYC questionnaires, or sanctions screening procedures.
- Copy-Paste Alert Reviews: You notice that alert narratives are being reused from past cases—or written by someone who never actually reviewed the transaction.
- Intentional Under-Screening: You find out that the sanctions screening software was set to fuzzy match thresholds so low that obvious hits are being missed entirely—and no one wants to fix it because of false positive volumes.
- Vendor Oversight Theater: The institution hires an outsourced compliance vendor overseas, and when you raise issues with quality or risk exposure, leadership says, “That’s on the vendor, not us.”
- CTRs and Structuring Blind Spots: Cash-heavy businesses deposit just under the $10,000 threshold repeatedly, and your reports on potential structuring are dismissed with, “We’re not here to police their accounting.”
- Risk Rating Manipulation: You flag an account for reclassification as high-risk, but the system mysteriously reverts it back to medium—only to find out later that the relationship manager intervened.
These aren’t just frustrating—they could be violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, OFAC sanctions laws, or other AML regulations. If you have original, non-public information about this kind of misconduct and it leads to an enforcement action, you could be rewarded as a whistleblower.
Why Disgruntled AML Professionals Are in the Best Position to Act
You’ve already tried to fix things internally. You’ve sat through useless meetings where your concerns were dismissed. You’ve seen promotions go to people who kept quiet, not those who raised issues. At some point, the question becomes: Why protect a system that refuses to protect you—or the public?
The AMLA Whistleblower Program gives you a way out. A way to hold your employer accountable, reclaim your power, and maybe even walk away with a substantial financial award.
And let’s be clear: the government wants people like you to speak up. FinCEN, the Department of Justice, and other agencies are under increasing pressure to crack down on financial crime, especially in crypto, fintech, cross-border payments, and sanctions evasion. Your inside knowledge could be exactly what they’re looking for.
How to Do It Safely
Here’s how to blow the whistle without blowing up your career:
1. Talk to an attorney first
Don’t go to FinCEN or regulators on your own. A qualified whistleblower attorney can:
- Evaluate whether your information qualifies
- File anonymously on your behalf
- Help you avoid common mistakes
- Protect you from retaliation
- Maximize your chance of getting an award
2. Don’t take documents illegally
Even if you have access to reports, logs, or emails, there are strict rules on what you can share. An attorney can help you stay on the right side of the law.
3. Keep your mouth shut at work
The more people who know you’re thinking of reporting, the greater the risk. Stay quiet. Preserve your records privately. Let your attorney handle the rest.
You Don’t Have to Keep Putting Up With This
The AML world is full of professionals who are tired of being ignored, overruled, or punished for doing the right thing. If you’re one of them, you’re not powerless—and you’re not alone.
Our firm represents AML and compliance professionals across the industry. We understand the internal politics, the systems, the risk scoring models, and how things really work behind the scenes. We’ll treat your case seriously, confidentially, and with zero pressure.
Schedule a free, confidential consultation to see if you have a whistleblower claim. If your information leads to a successful enforcement action, you could be rewarded—and finally see accountability where it’s long overdue.
Let your employer keep cutting corners. You don’t have to.