IRS Crime Chief Stepping Down - Forbes

IRS-CI

Chief Richard Weber

After serving for more than five years, the head of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), Chief Richard Weber, is stepping down. Weber announced his departure this month, saying, "It's time." He continued, "It's time to start a new challenge."

Weber knows a little something about challenges. Weber signed on as Chief of IRS-CI in April of 2012. At the time, the agency was trying to balance an increasingly sophisticated workload focusing on cybercrime, terrorism, and identity theft against a lack of resources and the threat of more cuts. As IRS became a political target, budget cuts affected not only customer service to taxpayers but the ability of IRS-CI to protect taxpayers against criminals. Weber says that the lack of resources created "more challenges in five years than in the history of the organization." His staff, which is now at approximately the same staffing level as it was more than 60 years ago, has risen above those challenges, he said and "never let outside noise impact their day to day work."

That work included a lot of special moments for the Chief. When asked about his most memorable moment, he doesn't hesitate. "The FIFA press conference in New York," he says. It was one of the most significant cases he worked on during his tenure as Chief - that he knew. However, he said, when he came out and saw the "hundreds of press people and cameras in the US Attorney library," he knew that it was a defining moment. He had, he admits, never anticipated so much interest in the case.

Weber is, of course, referring to the May 2015 announcement that 14 defendants had been charged with racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracies, and other offenses, in a wide-ranging corruption scheme. The defendants included two then serving FIFA Vice Presidents as well as the then serving current and former Presidents of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). The conspiracy allegedly involved hundreds of millions of dollars.

That moment isn't, however, Weber's proudest achievement. He is, he says, most proud of raising awareness of the department by placing an emphasis on communication. He says that getting out the message about the mission of the IRS-CI and its continued relevance to the public was an important goal.

The IRS-CI department is comprised of nearly 3,500 employees worldwide, approximately 2,500 of whom are special agents. IRS-CI special agents tackle crimes focusing on tax, money laundering, and Bank Secrecy Act laws. Special agents are known for "following the money" - from nabbing Capone to solving the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, they have played a role in a number of high profile crimes. However, while other federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may also chase financial criminals, the IRS is the only federal agency that can investigate potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code.

(For more on IRS-CI, check out this prior post.)

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