As a reward for helping federal prosecutors force Bank of America to pay a record $16.65 billion penalty for its role in the financial crisis, a former Countrywide Financial executive-turned-whistleblower is reaping more than $57 million. The award to Edward O’Donnell, while staggering, is still not the largest. In 2012, the IRS paid a former UBS banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, $104 million for spilling on that institution’s tax-avoidance scheme.
