IRS names new top cop for Tampa criminal investigation field office

The IRS Criminal Investigation Tampa Field Office has named veteran investigator Ronald Loecker special agent in charge. 

Loecker, according to a statement, will be responsible for planning, directing and evaluating the activities of personnel who conduct criminal investigations into tax violations and financial crimes in the Middle and Northern Judicial Districts of Florida. That area stretches from Fort Myers to Jacksonville and across the Panhandle to Pensacola, the release states. 

Loecker was previously the director of International Operations for the IRS, where he supervised a staff deployed worldwide partnering with foreign law enforcement to combat global financial fraud schemes. Prior to that, the release states, he held a variety of leadership positions including assistant special agent in charge of the Tampa Field Office; deputy chief of staff for Criminal Investigations in Washington, D.C.; and supervisory special agent in the former Las Vegas Field Office. Loecker began his career with Criminal Investigations in 2001.

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“I’m thrilled by the opportunity to lead the men and women of CI’s Tampa Field Office as they continue to uphold our nation’s tax laws and battle financial fraud schemes in central and northern Florida,” Loecker says in the release.

The Tampa Field Office obtained a 98.57% conviction rate on its cases in fiscal 2023, the release states. Of the 120 criminal investigations initiated by the Tampa Field Office, 88 were recommended for prosecution, and 68 cases have already been sentenced to an average of 52 months, officials add. Additionally, field office staff conducted seizures totaling approximately $22.5 million of illegal proceeds related to money laundering and other frauds. 

CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.