Downing was the lead counsel on some of the DoJ’s most high-profile criminal tax investigations and prosecutions, including the UBS offshore banking and KPMG tax shelter cases.
He has been with the tax division of the Department of Justice since 1997, spending six years as a trial attorney in the Western Criminal Enforcement Section of the Tax Division, and then as senior trial attorney in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division. Some of the issues he investigated and prosecuted covered criminal tax, Bank Secrecy Act violations, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He was also involved in developing best practice governance and compliance systems for international businesses.