NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - September 19, 2012) -  As demonstrated by the $104 million dollar IRS award to UBS Swiss bank whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, one may hit a home run by blowing the whistle. Some, however, face criminal charges or other extraordinary difficulties because of their whistleblowing. Chaired by attorney Fred L. Abrams, the New York City Bar Association seminar, "The Ins & Outs Of Recovering Assets Via Whistleblowers & Other Tipsters," discusses these kinds of issues. It analyzes the dangers some whistleblowers brave, the reward programs offered by the IRS and SEC and the use of whistleblower tips.

One of its speakers, attorney Jack Blum, served as associate counsel, assistant counsel, or special counsel to three U.S. Senate committees or subcommittees, and has been quoted by or mentioned in thousands of newspaper and magazine articles around the world.

Mr. Blum's select clients include Heinrich Kieber, who blew the whistle on customers with offshore accounts at Liechtenstein's private bank, the LGT Group.  Mr. Kieber sold his whistleblower tips to the German government, which used them to track suspected tax cheats. 

Although the German government placed Mr. Kieber in a witness protection program, Liechtenstein authorities seek his arrest for data theft / the alleged sale of the LGT Group account information.

Mr. Blum explains that blowing the whistle can be extremely complex and he mentions the situation former Stanford Financial Group brokers Charles Rawl and Mark Tidwell encountered. "By blowing the whistle to the SEC about Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, Rawl and Tidwell became the targets of clawback lawsuits filed by a court-appointed receiver," Jack Blum said.

The seminar's chair attorney Fred L. Abrams, meanwhile, advises, "Whistleblower tips are sometimes the only practical way to uncover a sophisticated asset concealment scheme."  This event will take place on September 27, 2012 from 6 - 9 PM, at the The New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44^th Street in Manhattan. It will also be broadcast live on the Internet and to register for it, contact the City Bar Center For CLE,  212.382.6663 or visit:

https://www.nycbar.org/CLE/pdf/09_12/092712_web.pdf.