SIGAR

SIGAR Announces Appointment of Deputy Inspector General

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Arnold Fields today announced the appointment of Herbert Richardson to be the Deputy Inspector General of SIGAR.

SIGAR began to form its staff in the Fall of 2008 after receiving two million dollars of the $23.2 million requested to launch the agency. SIGAR grew from one person, the Special Inspector General, to an independent agency with a staff of over 115 employees working in the U.S. and Afghanistan. Over 30 SIGAR staffers, principally auditors and investigators, serve on 13 month tours in Kabul and other locations around Afghanistan. SIGAR conducts audits and investigations of U.S. reconstruction funds, operations and contracts devoted to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. SIGAR's mandate is to provide robust and aggressive oversight through audits and investigations of over $56 billion appropriated thus far for Afghanistan reconstruction.

"As we continue to move forward fulfilling the dynamic mission with which the U.S. Congress has entrusted us, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Herbert Richardson to the role of Deputy Inspector General for SIGAR," said Special IG Arnold Fields. "Mr. Richardson's extensive leadership experience in the Inspector General community, combined with his 20 year career with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), will serve our organization well as we move forward in our important oversight work which includes rooting out waste, fraud and abuse of U.S. reconstruction dollars in Afghanistan," said IG Fields.

Prior to his appointment to the Deputy IG position at SIGAR, Mr. Richardson served for over 15 years in an executive management and leadership role, including the last 12 years as the Principal Deputy Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In that role, Mr. Richardson managed a budget of over $50 million and directed OIG resources consisting of 279 employees located in over 14 DOE sites and Laboratories across the United States.

While at the Department of Energy, Mr. Richardson also directed a national workforce throughout the United States in the prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse within a $34 billion Agency comprised of over 15,400 employees and over 102,000 contractors, including the Nation's leading Laboratories which are considered the crown jewels of research. Prior to being appointed to the position of Principal Deputy, Mr. Richardson served as Assistant Inspector General for Investigations.

Prior to his work at the Department of Energy, Mr. Richardson served as a Special Agent (manager) for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). During his 20-year tenure with the FBI, he investigated and managed investigative operations in the fields of Organized Crime, White Collar Crime, Violent Crime matters, Bank Fraud, Contract Fraud and matters of National Security. Before leaving the FBI for the DOE/OIG, he had responsibility for the operational and administrative activities of over 900 FBI employees in support of investigative activities throughout the United States and selected international territories.

Mr. Richardson hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1973 and a Master of Public Administration from Long Island University in Greenville, New York, in 1985. Mr. Richardson has also done post graduate work and taken advanced studies at the University of Southern California (USC)-Washington School of Public Affairs; the Brookings Institution; the Georgetown University School of Government Affairs; the George Washington University School of Government Affairs; the Federal Executive Institute; Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

He has received numerous awards and honors, including the United States Presidential Rank Award for Career Senior Executives; United States Attorney General Award for Volunteerism; the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Director's Award for Excellence; and, in his younger days, recognition as the first African-American to win a gold medal in U.S. and International Rowing competition.

"I am looking forward to this new challenge and another opportunity to work on behalf of the American taxpayers to ensure that their money is provided aggressive and robust oversight and is put to the best use possible," said SIGAR's new Deputy IG Herbert Richardson.