Date: January 5, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov HOUSTON — Ramsey E. Covington became the special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation's (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office on January 1, 2022, a position he was appointed to by Chief, Criminal Investigation, James Lee. A 20-year veteran of IRS, Covington started his career as a revenue agent in Cincinnati, before joining the federal law enforcement ranks as a special agent with the Atlanta Field Office in 2005. During his field assignments, Covington worked tax evasion, employment tax, false claims, identity theft, insurance fraud, and money laundering investigations. In addition, he served as the healthcare fraud coordinator and within special investigative techniques. Prior to his selection, Covington served as acting special agent in charge of the Boston Field Office, comprising of the federal judicial districts of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Starting in 2019, Covington served as a director of International Field Operations in Washington, D.C., with oversight of attachés, headquarters staff, and cooperation with foreign governments. In this role, he led several key initiatives including the development of IRS-CI's International Threat Assessment, strategic collaboration with IRS operating divisions, and key post metrics and analytics. His other key roles in the agency included supervisory special agent in the St. Louis Field Office, senior analyst with International Operations and assistant special agent in charge. He relocated to Houston in 2017 after being promoted to the assistant special agent in charge of the field office. As the special agent in charge of the Houston Field Office, Covington is responsible for planning, directing, and evaluating the activities of IRS-CI personnel who conduct criminal investigations into tax violations and financial crimes in the Southern and Western judicial districts of Texas. The boundaries stretch from Houston to El Paso, with additional offices in San Antonio, Austin, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, McAllen, Laredo, and Waco. "I am extremely proud to function as the leader of this office and continue serving the American people by directing IRS-CI's efforts to bring individuals who intentionally violate our nation's tax laws to justice," said Covington. "Our dedicated criminal investigators and professional staff are committed to relentlessly performing at our best to maximize our impact on the vital tax and law enforcement missions of IRS-CI." IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, counterterrorism, public corruption, identity theft, bank secrecy act violations, COVID-19 fraud, and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, boasting a nearly 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 11 attaché offices strategically positioned abroad. Covington is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Accounting from Tennessee State University, a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Georgia, and he is a certified public accountant.
