Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced two whistleblower awards totaling over $1.7 million issued to claimants who provided significant evidence of fraud to the Commission.

Both SEC whistleblowers filed Forms TCR with the SEC Whistleblower Office, which stands for “tip, complaint and referral.” The whistleblowers in each case provided the forms to the Commission within the first 30 days after learning of the Form TCR filing requirement as set forth in new Securities and Exchange Act Rule 21F-9(e).

In the first award order, an SEC whistleblower provided information that helped shut down an ongoing scheme that preyed on retail investors. This claimant also provided a “critical declaration” to the SEC and was issued an award of $900,000.

In the second award order, the claimant provided key evidence of false and misleading statements made to investors and helped recover millions of dollars to individuals who were harmed by the scheme. This SEC whistleblower received an award of over $800,000.

As set forth under the Dodd Frank Act, whistleblowers who file award claims with the SEC can remain fully anonymous and confidential during their proceedings.

Whistleblowers who report frauds that lead to successful enforcement actions that result in over $1 million in sanctions collected can become eligible for rewards ranging from 10-30% of the monies collected.

“As these awards show, deserving whistleblowers may receive an award if they comply with the Form TCR filing requirements within 30 days of first obtaining actual or constructive notice of the filing requirement or 30 days from the date the whistleblower hires a lawyer to represent them in connection with the whistleblower’s previous submission of information to the Commission, whichever occurs first, and they otherwise meet the eligibility requirements,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “These whistleblowers earned their awards by providing high quality information that supported a pair of successful Commission enforcement actions.”

Ben Kostyack also contributed to this article.