WASHINGTON Andrea Gacki, a veteran U.S. Treasury official who helped design Washington's Russia sanctions strategy, has been appointed director of the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday.

Gacki, who has headed the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since 2019, "guided the office through major world events, including most recently, its role countering Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war against Ukraine," Yellen said in a statement.

Yellen did not say when Gacki would assume her new role as FinCEN director.

FinCEN is responsible for cracking down on cybercrime, moneylaundering and sanctions evasion, among other areas.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub: Editing by Caitlin Webber and Doina Chiacu)