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Former FBI agent accused of helping Russian oligarch evade sanctions

Charles McGonigal and a court interpreter were arrested last Saturday.

FBI Flickr

Flickr

Published by
Juan Martín Fernández Quintero

This Monday, the Justice Department confirmed prosecuting a former FBI agent in New York for money laundering and alleged collaboration with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to evade U.S. sanctions. The defendant investigated Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Charles McGonigal was arrested on Saturday along with Sergey Shestakov, a court interpreter also linked to Deripaska. "Both previously worked with Deripaska to try to have his sanctions removed," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement:

McGonigal and Shestakov knew that their actions violated U.S. sanctions because, among other reasons, while serving as a special agent, McGonigal received then-classified information that Deripaska would be added to a list of oligarchs considered for sanctions as part of the process that led to the imposition of sanctions against Deripaska.

McGonigal, 54, is a former special agent and was in charge of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division in New York. He retired in 2018, after working on classified information about Deripaska being included in the list of Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Those targeted in the case are charged with four main counts: conspiracy to violate and evade U.S. sanctions; violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA); conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. In addition, Shestakov is being charged for making false statements.

McGonigal was one of the federal agency's first agents to gather information about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which was aimed at undermining the country's democratic process.

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