HARRISBURG -- The first, and so far only, director of a key department for the state Gaming Control Board plans to retire Dec. 5.

David Kwait, director of the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, said he will end a career that has included a 30-year stint with the FBI, manager of Pittsburgh's Office of Municipal Investigations in 1996-97 and manager of the Office of Criminal Investigations for the state attorney general from 1998 to 2005.

He joined the Gaming Control Board in mid-2005. He headed BIE, which has 70 employees and has done background investigations on 19,000 individuals or companies who sought to be involved with slots casinos in Pennsylvania.

"There is a tremendous satisfaction that comes with knowing I helped to build an agency from the ground up and created an investigative and enforcement unit that is second to none,'' he said in a statement.

Mr. Kwait's lengthy law enforcement background "was an essential element in moving casino licensing forward swiftly and legally,'' said board Chairwoman Mary D. Colins. "It was essential, as we built a system to not only protect the public's interests and instill integrity into Pennsylvania's new gaming industry, but to manage a tremendous volume of investigations required to move the gaming act from a law into reality.''

However, for the past year or so, Republican legislators have criticized some aspects of BIE's work, especially in regard to background investigations of Louis DeNaples, owner of the Mt. Airy casino in the Poconos, who has been charged with perjury by the Dauphin County district attorney; and of Don Barden, former majority owner of a casino being built in Pittsburgh, whose financial troubles caused him to bring in new investment and accept a minority ownership stake.

Some Republican legislators want to move the BIE over to the Pennsylvania State Police or Attorney General's office, arguing that would give it more of an official law enforcement presence.