Former FBI agent arrested for links to Russian oligarch
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Former FBI agent in charge of the New York counterintelligence division arrested for links to a Russian oligarch accused of violating US sanctions.
- Charles McGonigal, 54, has been charged with violating US sanctions.
- He was previously in charge of the New York counterintelligence division.
- Police say he has ties to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska
A former FBI official has been arrested for his ties to a Russian oligarch accused of violating US sanctions.
Charles McGonigal, 54, was previously the special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the New York field office.
He was arrested Saturday afternoon after arriving at JFK following a trip to Sri Lanka and retired from the FBI in 2018.
Police say he has ties to metal magnate Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire sanctioned by the United States and later accused of raping them last year.
Charles McGonigal, 54, was previously the special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the New York field office.
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska was sanctioned by the United States and later accused of violating them last year. In the photo: with Vladimir Putin in Moscow 2013
Court interpreter Sergey Shestakov was also charged in connection with the case. He also worked with Deripaska.
McGonigal is accused of violating US sanctions by trying to remove Deripaska from the sanctions list.
He is one of the highest-ranking former FBI officials ever charged with a crime.
Both McGonigal and Shestakov are accused of receiving payments through shell companies and forging signatures to keep secret that Deripaska was paying them.
According to the Justice Department, the pair, who worked for the FBI and investigated oligarchs, agreed to investigate a rival oligarch in exchange for payments from Deripaska.
Both men face money laundering charges, as well as penalties for rape, with each of the four charges carrying a maximum of 20 years in prison.
FBI Deputy Director in Charge Michael Driscoll said in a statement: “The FBI is committed to the application of economic sanctions designed to protect the United States and our allies, especially against hostile activities by a foreign government and its actors.” .
Russian oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska wield global malign influence on behalf of the Kremlin and are associated with bribery, extortion, and violence.
‘As alleged, Mr. McGonigal and Mr. Shestakov, both US citizens, acted on behalf of Deripaska and fraudulently used a US entity to conceal their activity in violation of US sanctions.
‘After sanctions are imposed, they must be applied equally to all US citizens if they are to be successful. There are no exceptions for anyone, including a former FBI official like Mr. McGonigal.
Deripaska, 54, is one of the few oligarchs who criticized Putin for launching the war in Ukraine, calling it madness.
In December 2022, his $1 billion hotel complex and marina in Sochi was seized from him after the Kremlin reportedly asked him to “calm down.”