If you work for the government or as a government contractor, you may be in a unique position to uncover some type of fraud. The government, of course, works best when fraud remains minimal or nonexistent. Therefore, you may feel both a personal and professional obligation to bring suspected fraud into the light.
According to the Office of Personnel Management, the government offers broad protections and some incentives for most whistleblowers. Before blowing the whistle on fraud, corruption or theft, though, you must be certain you have evidence of misconduct. After all, for a variety of reasons, you do not want to make baseless allegations.
Effective evidence
The type of evidence you need to support your claim probably depends on both the industry in which you work and the official misconduct. Typically, though, there should be a nexus or link between the fraud and your evidence. That is, for your evidence to be effective, you probably want more than general information about a situation.
Timeliness
Many matters are subject to statutes of limitations, which control when officials must bring charges. When you are thinking about blowing the whistle, it may be helpful to consider the relevant statute of limitations. If your evidence is considerably older than the statute of limitations contemplates, you may want to find more current proof of misconduct.
On the other hand, the statute of limitations may not kick in until someone uncovers the misconduct. Ultimately, if you have any concerns about whether your evidence is sufficiently timely, it may be beneficial to explore all your legal options before becoming a whistleblower.