Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Board of Directors appointed Rene Febles as inspector general for a three-year term. Febles has been serving as acting inspector general since April.
“Metro’s Board is deeply appreciative of Rene’s diligent work and leadership as acting inspector general over the past six months, and we congratulate him on his formal appointment,” said Board Chair Paul C. Smedberg. “The IG has the critically important task of holding this organization accountable to the public we serve, and we look forward to Rene’s continued work to better this agency and foster public trust in Metro.”
The Office of Inspector General operates independently of WMATA and conducts audits, evaluations and investigations, detects and prevents fraud and abuse and promotes efficiency at WMATA.
Throughout his career, Febles’ strategic vision and leadership resulted in the identification and detection of billions of dollars in fraudulent activity, resulting in organizational changes, criminal convictions and the recovery of billions of dollars for both the government and the victims of crimes.
Febles began his professional career as a federal auditor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office Inspector General (HUD-OIG). He later became a federal law enforcement officer, rising through the ranks and serving in various leadership positions, including Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office at HUD-OIG and the Federal Housing Finance Agency OIG (FHFA-OIG).
In 2012, Febles joined the ranks of the senior leadership, where he served as both Assistant Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at FHFA-OIG. In that role, he provided strategic leadership and direction to a cross-functional staff of highly trained law enforcement officers, investigative counsels, analysts and attorney advisors. Collectively, the unit was responsible for public integrity and accountability of approximately $191.5 billion in U.S. taxpayer-funded lending programs.
