D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi on Tuesday named a former Maryland official as the new head of the D.C. tax office, where he has pledged to restore public confidence in the scandal-plagued agency.
Stephen M. Cordi, who retired as Maryland’s deputy comptroller in 2005, will join the CFO’s office Jan. 22 as director of the Office of Tax and Revenue.
He will be asked to rebuild an agency rocked by the largest case of theft in D.C. government history — the bilking of at least $20 million.
Prosecutors have charged a pair of employees and several alleged accomplices in the case.
Cordi was described Tuesday by Gandhi’s office as a “nationally renowned expert on tax administration,” with experience ranging from litigating tax cases and processing returns to case management and taxpayer service.
“We will do all that is needed to restore any lost confidence in the District’s tax system,” Cordi said in a statement. “I have been assured by Dr. Gandhi that I have the full force of his cooperation and that of the entire staff of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.”
Cordi worked for the Maryland government from 1974 until 2005, during which he served as director of the compliance division within the Comptroller’s Office, as well as director of the Sales & Use Tax Division.
He is currently a lawyer with the Baltimore law firm of Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver.
“I am completely confident that he understands the challenges ahead and that he has the background needed to bring best practice to every aspect of the District’s tax administration,” Gandhi said.
Soon after the unprecedented theft was revealed in November, Gandhi named Sebastian “Ben” Lorigo as the tax office director, but that appointment ended less than two months later in resignation.
Lorigo, who formerly headed up the CFO’s auditing arm, was repeatedly questioned on how he missed tens of millions of dollars disappearing from the public’s coffers.
