The FBI seal is displayed on the podium. A former FBI agent is facing a number of charges related to his work with a Russian oligarch.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
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Jose Luis Magana/AP
The FBI seal is displayed on the podium. A former FBI agent is facing a number of charges related to his work with a Russian oligarch.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
A former senior FBI agent is facing multiple charges for working with a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
Charles McGonigal, a former counterintelligence agent at the FBI’s New York office, is accused of working with Oleg Deripaska, who has been on the US sanctions list since 2018.
McGonigal’s involvement with the Russian billionaire involved receiving secret payments to investigate one of Deripaska’s rivals. Prosecutors said he also worked to remove Deripaska from the US sanctions list, in violation of federal law.
Sergey Shestakov, a US citizen is a former Soviet and Russian diplomat and federal court interpreter, is facing charges along with McGonigal. Prosecutors allege Shestakov, 69, and McGonigal worked together to assist Deripaska.
“Accordingly, Charles McGonigal, a former senior FBI official, and Sergey Shestakov, a court interpreter, violated US sanctions by agreeing to provide services to Oleg Deripaska, a financier. Russia is sanctioned,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Both have previously worked with Deripaska to try to have his sanctions lifted, and as public servants, they should have known better. This office will continue to prosecute violators. sanctions imposed by the United States in response to Russia’s belligerent actions in Ukraine to line its own pockets.”
Russian businessman and RUSAL company founder Oleg Deripaska in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 17, 2022.
Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
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Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
Russian businessman and RUSAL company founder Oleg Deripaska in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 17, 2022.
Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
Prosecutors said McGonigal, 54, knowing full well that his work with Deripaska was against the law. The former FBI agent has worked in Russian counterintelligence, organized crime and counterintelligence for more than 20 years with the agency. At one point, he even investigated Deripaska, along with other Russian oligarchs. McGonigal officially retired in 2018.
US sanctions Deripaska same year for “acting or intending to act on behalf of either directly or indirectly a high-ranking official of the Government of the Russian Federation.” Deripaska is was also charged with a criminal offense last September for trying to evade those sanctions and obstruct justice.
Deripaska is the wealthy founder of an aluminum company in Russia and has ties to the country’s President Vladimir Putin. He also had previously worked with Paul ManafortFormer President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman.
The unsealed federal indictment Monday charges McGonigal and Shestakov with one count each of conspiracy to violate and evade U.S. sanctions, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). ), one count of IEEPA violation, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Shestakov is facing additional charges of perjury, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
No attorneys are listed for Shestakov or McGonigal in the court filings.
