George C. Venizelos, FBI special agent in charge of the Philadelphia division, will be named assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York City office, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Though the FBI’s Washington headquarters have remained tight-lipped, Venizelos had been rumored as a top choice for the New York position, the paper reported. As of late Tuesday, the FBI’s New York and Philadelphia offices also declined to comment to the Inquirer.
Venizelos, 52, acknowledged in an interview with the Inquirer last week that he was on the short list for the position, which is vacant after Janice Fedarcyk stepped down in August.
New York is the FBI’s largest field office with more than 2,000 employees.
Before joining the bureau, Venizelos worked as an accountant and also as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Venizelos joined the bureau in 1991, working at the Boston Division on white collar crimes. In 1997, he moved the FBI headquarters as a special agent in the Criminal Investigative Division’s Russian Organized Crime Unit, according to an FBI profile.
Venizelos moved to the Philadelphia field office in 1999 for three years, until becoming assistant special agent in charge of the Criminal Division in the New York field office. In 2005, he returned to headquarters to serve as an inspector. After returning to the New York field office in 2006 and serving in a variety of roles, he was tapped to lead the Philadelphia field office in 2010.
