Possibly, in which case someone on the inside would have to be incentivized to be a whistleblower, either due to moral or financial considerations if silent rejections were covering up the illegal activity. With that said, people are lazy, they slip up or they become demoralized, disgruntled, and comfortable with spilling the beans. More so in a volatile macro with layoffs compressing more work amongst less staff.

TLDR Have your paper trail in order if you suspect illegal behavior, everything else is then logistics with counsel and/or regulators.

(not an attorney, not your attorney)

Whistheblowing is a red flag, and you can be sure this is a matter of public enough record for them to know