WASHINGTON - Eileen Mayer, currently head of the IRS�s Office of Fraud / Bank Secrecy Act, was named today as head of the agency�s Criminal Investigation Division.

�Eileen is a seasoned prosecutor and knows the criminal justice system inside and out,� said Mark W. Everson, IRS Commissioner. �She will play a key role in IRS efforts to halt tax fraud. I look forward to her joining the leadership team.�

As director of the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division�s Office of Fraud / BSA, Mayer was responsible for the agency�s internal fraud referral program. Her office ensured that egregious cases of noncompliance uncovered by the agency�s examiners were forwarded to criminal investigators working for CI. She also was responsible for the agency�s mission as one of the federal regulators involved in the enforcement of BSA. Within the agency, SB/SE is responsible for enforcement and compliance issues involving individual taxpayers and small businesses.

Mayer came to the IRS in January 2006 after 19 years at the U.S. Attorney�s Office in Washington, D.C. She was deputy chief of the criminal division, supervising the prosecution of federal criminal offenses in the D.C. area. Her tenure included a two-year detail as an Associate Deputy Attorney General with the Department of Justice and a three-year detail as special assistant to the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN is a branch of the Department of Treasury.

Her duties at FinCEN included coordinating the implementation of the original Bank Secrecy Act regulations for non-bank financial institutions. The act is the main federal law used to combat money laundering.

Mayer received a degree in economics from Randolph-Macon Women�s College at Lynchburg, Va., and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.