On Whistleblowers, and Those Who Kept Quiet

Jacqueline Bloink intimately knows what it’s like to be a whistleblower. The anxiety, the fears, the mixed emotions and more. During her time at a health care organization, she uncovered a fraud scheme. She talked a bit about her experience during her virtual presentation, “Health Care Whistleblowing: Top Cases and Trends,” for the 35th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. 

Bloink started with a quote from Albert Einstein: “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” 

“Whistleblowers put their own selves at risk to protect others,” said Bloink. “We see wrong, and we want to correct it.” 

Bloink asked everyone listening to reflect on what they would do if they uncovered a fraud scheme. She ran through scenarios potential whistleblowers probably think about, including the people they should report misconduct to and how people could potentially react to hearing about the misconduct. Though it’s illegal, whistleblowers could potentially lose their jobs. How about their friends? Could whistleblowers potentially be shunned? Could their reputations be damaged? Bloink wanted everyone to think about these questions because she believes these are the things that may have stopped people from reporting misconduct. 

Speaking about those who haven’t come forward, Bloink expressed that the one thing they want is safety. “We want safety to know that we’re going to have an income, safety to know that we’re going to be able to use our expertise in the field that we chose to work in, safety to know that we’re going to have a home somewhere else in a safe neighborhood,” said Bloink. “Those are some of the things that I think would prompt people to be whistleblowers … to know that they’re not going to give up their whole life, their education, expertise and credentials because they did their job.” 

Bloink feels confident that if the government or community would protect these needs, there’d be many more whistleblowers that would help uncover more crimes. 

Incentivizing whistleblowers 

In March 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced financial rewards for whistleblowers with the hope that it will “encourage companies to invest in a culture of compliance and to report misconduct as soon as it is brought to the company’s attention.” The pilot program doesn’t have an official launch date, but the DOJ is aiming for the end of 2024. 

Theranos whistleblowers: Where are they now? 

Bloink looked back at some memorable health care fraud cases and the whistleblowers who reported them. The Theranos case took some scary turns for whistleblower Tyler Shultz, who reported sleeping with a knife under his pillow as he feared retaliation from convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. After Theranos, Shultz was able to successfully move on to become co-founder of health identification company, The Healthyr Co. He also serves as an advisory member for a whistleblower support organization. Erika Cheung, the other Theranos whistleblower, co-founded an organization that provides ethical training for future tech leaders. 

Bloink ended her presentation reflecting on the would-be whistleblowers who decided to keep quiet. “They have to live with themselves even if they hold the CEO titles or are the queen of the ethics department,” said Bloink. “We all have to live with ourselves, and only we truly know us.”