Page 83 - ACAMS-Today-V20N3

Tracing the origins of the U.S. anti-money laundering and Office of Foreign Assets Control
regimes undoubtedly will lead back to Elmer Lincoln Irey. Irey is the father of financial crime investigations and the longest serving IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) chief (1919-1942). He saved the tax system from crumbling under the weight of bribery, brought America’s top gangsters to justice including Al Capone, led one of the most prodigious drives against entrenched corruption, success- fully hunted down and froze Nazi assets and pioneered the use of financial institution (FI) reports of large currency transactions. Time referred to Irey as, “the #1 civic servant of the U.S”1 and when Irey announced his retirement, Life Magazine called him, “one of the world’s greatest detectives.”2 Arguably, Irey was the most successful financial crime law enforcement leader in U.S. history.
The legacy of Irey’s leadership gives all those in financial crime law enforcement a road map to leadership success. His leadership was empowered by the Six C’s. The following Six C’s are essential leadership traits that allowed Irey to become an influential and highly effective leader, even in the most challenging situations:
1. Character
2. Competence 3. Courage
4. Charisma
5. Compassion 6. Collaboration
Character
Character is probably the most important leadership quality. It is the trait that will draw people like a magnet and allow a leader to gain influence. People are not born with character; they develop into it. It is the equal opportunity trait that anyone can possess but takes constant fortitude to maintain. The adage “birds of a feather flock together” is true when it comes to character. A leader with character will attract and retain team members of the same character.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of
[ CAREER GUIDANCE ]
Irey and his agency as a “shiny mark of
as a “shiny mark of incorruptibility”
Irey was known far and wide as a person of great integrity, honesty, humility and commitment to duty. President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of Irey and his agency as a “shiny mark of incorruptibility.”3 Incorruptibility was a big deal back in the 1920s since bribery was rampant, particularly in local police departments and the Bureau of Prohibition.
However, Irey’s character served as a beacon for his team to follow. During Irey’s tenure, only one of his agents was caught taking a bribe. Agent Alf Oftedal――who led the fight to save Hollywood from organized crime――told Irey in a retirement congratulations letter, “Emerson has observed that men of character are the conscience of the society to which they belong. How true this is, as evidenced by your outstanding influence among special agents.”4 Agent Tom Henry said in a letter to Irey: “Above all you have shown every man who has worked for or with you that true value of integrity, loyalty and sound common sense.”5
Irey’s character curried admiration among many senior law enforcement officials. In a letter, former Assistant Attorney General Stephen Spingarn told Irey, “I have particularly admired the selflessness with which you have carried on your work, avoiding the notable opportunities which it might have afforded another sort of man for self-glorification, and concentrating only on doing the job.”6
People follow who they trust and respect. Be a leader with character and you will curry trust and respect.
[ JUNE–AUGUST 2021 ] 83