Municipal Securities Whistleblower Lawyer

Municipal securities fraud is a serious problem that, when reported, could result in a sizable reward for the whistleblower. Find out if your information might qualify by working with a municipal securities whistleblower attorney.

Municipal securities are an often-overlooked area that is rife with securities fraud violations. While municipal bonds don’t commonly appear in the whistleblower reward announcements published by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this is more a result of under-reporting than it is a lack of interest.

If you’ve discovered a municipal securities violation, a municipal securities whistleblower lawyer from Meissner Associates can help you report the fraud to the SEC. Doing so can result in a substantial whistleblower bounty, and our attorneys can ensure that your whistleblower rights are protected.

Pay-to-Play Schemes

It’s unfortunate, but municipal securities are frequently used as bargaining chips in political pay-to-play schemes. These securities are usually underwritten by an investment bank—for whom they are very profitable. Because of this, Wall Street banks often seek out these bonds, sometimes through less-than-legal means.

In a pay-to-play scheme, an investment bank makes a sizable monetary contribution to a political campaign. In return, the politician takes out a municipal security with the bank after taking office. In normal situations, these securities get put up for auction as the bidding drives down the price.

Pay-to-play bonds are often incredibly favorable to the underwriting bank, costing taxpayers substantially more than a properly auctioned bond would have, which is why this practice is illegal. The SEC is highly likely to sanction the involved investment bank, which could yield a significant reward for a whistleblower.

Rigged Municipal Security Auctions

Even a normal auction doesn’t guarantee that securities fraud hasn’t taken place, sadly. Sometimes investment banks will collaborate to rig an auction. In these situations, the banks agree on how each will bid, thereby fixing both the price and the interest rate of the municipal security.

These are often complicated schemes where the different banks involved have divided up a number of auctions amongst themselves, thereby ensuring that each bank gets incredibly favorable municipal securities.

Just like with pay-to-play, the municipality’s taxpayers are the real losers here, as they’re forced to foot the bill for an inflated bond. In this scenario, however, the city’s officials are not at fault. Instead, multiple investment banks could be, which could actually result in an unusually large whistleblower reward if all are sanctioned by the SEC.

Connect with a Securities Whistleblower Attorney

The experienced whistleblower lawyers of Meissner Associates know how to protect a whistleblower’s rights, as well as how to present a tip to the SEC in the most compelling way possible. If you know of shady practices involving city bonds, we can help you get rewarded for seeking justice.

Contact us today for a free, 100 percent confidential tip evaluation from a municipal securities whistleblower lawyer. There’s no risk involved, and you’ll receive an honest, accurate assessment of your information. To begin, just fill out the form at the bottom of this page or call our office directly at 1-866-764-3100.