In the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal in the late 2000s, the SEC set up a program to reward whistleblowers who uncover fraud against investors. Since then, the program has paid out more than $1.3 billion.

But who's receiving this money? And what information are they providing to the agency? And why is a huge chunk of the money going to whistleblowers represented by attorneys who used to work at the SEC?

Bloomberg Law reporter John Holland recently published an investigative report looking at all of these questions. He found that the SEC's whistleblower program is operating with shockingly little oversight from either the courts or Congress. Holland joins this week's episode of our legal news podcast, On The Merits, with two of his sources: whistleblower attorney Reuben Guttman, and University of Kansas law professor Alex Platt, who's conducted research into what's happening here.

Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.