Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $12 million award to be shared among three whistleblowers who provided critical information in the SEC's enforcement action against a penny stock fraud scheme. 

The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, resulted in a final judgment against Alexander J. Dillon, Cosmin I. Panait, and their companies, GPL Ventures LLC and GPL Management LLC, with a settlement of $39 million.