James (Jim) Lee was selected as the Chief, Criminal Investigation (CI) in August 2020. In this role Jim is responsible for overseeing a worldwide staff of nearly 2,900 CI employees, including approximately 2,000 special agents in 21 Field Offices and 11 foreign countries who investigate crimes involving tax, money laundering, public corruption, cyber, ID theft, narcotics and terrorist-financing.

Prior to his selection as Chief, James served as the Deputy Chief within IRS Criminal Investigation.

Criminal Investigation's top law enforcement priorities are designed to promote tax compliance, address emerging areas of fraud, and meet the needs of the law enforcement community by supporting national crime initiatives. The Criminal Investigation Program Strategy is comprised of three interdependent programs: Legal Source Tax Crimes; Illegal Source Financial Crimes; and Narcotics Related Financial Crimes/Counterterrorism. These three areas are mutually supportive, and they encourage utilization of all statutes within CI's jurisdiction, the grand jury process, and enforcement techniques to combat tax, money laundering, and currency crime violations.

James began his IRS Criminal Investigation career in 1995 as a Special Agent in Detroit, MI. In 2003, James was promoted to the Supervisory Special Agent position in the New Orleans Field Office, Baton Rouge Post of Duty and was responsible for the daily operations within the Middle and Western Districts of LA. In 2006, James was selected as a Headquarters Senior Analyst in the International Section and also served within the Headquarters Financial Crimes Section. In 2008, James was promoted to the Assistant Special Agent In Charge within the Boston Field Office where he was responsible for the daily operations within the states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 2010, James was selected as the Special Agent In Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's New Orleans Field Office. The New Orleans Field Office is responsible for the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. In 2013, James was selected as the Special Agent In Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's Chicago Field Office and appointed to the Senior Executive Service. The Chicago Field Office is responsible for the states of Illinois and Indiana. In 2015, James was selected as the Director of Strategy within IRS Criminal Investigation. The Director of Strategy is an Executive position overseeing many of the organizations critical program areas that impact all Criminal Investigation employees. This includes National responsibility for Criminal Investigations Finance, Human Resources, Accredited National Training Academy, Planning, Research and Analysis, and Program Review. The position involves extensive coordination within Criminal Investigation as well as IRS counterparts and is critical to Criminal Investigation's day-to-day operations.

James has a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Tiffin University.