The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced this week that Claudius B. Modesti will join the Board's staff as its Director of Investigations and Enforcement, effective May 3, 2004. Mr. Modesti, 39, currently is an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia where he has led the investigation and prosecution of white-collar crimes with an emphasis on securities fraud. He was also appointed corporate fraud coordinator for the office.

"Claudius's experiences in corporate and securities fraud make him the ideal candidate for Director of the Office of Investigations and Enforcement," said Board Chairman William J. McDonough. "His role will be an important one because the Sarbanes-Oxley Act grants the PCAOB broad investigative and disciplinary authority over registered public accounting firms and persons associated with such firms."

Prior to joining the United States Attorney's office, Mr. Modesti served as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, and spent four years in the Division of Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"I am honored to have the chance to work directly with the members of the Board and to join an organization dedicated to restoring confidence in our capital markets and our public companies," said Mr. Modesti.

Mr. Modesti earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his Bachelors of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University.