US: Ex-FBI counterintelligence agent aided Russian oligarch (2024)

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NEW YORK (AP) — A former high-ranking FBI counterintelligence official who investigated Russian oligarchs has been indicted on charges he secretly worked for one, in violation of U.S. sanctions. The official was also charged, in a separate indictment, with taking cash from a former foreign security officer.

Charles McGonigal, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018, is accused in an indictment unsealed Monday of working with a former Soviet diplomat-turned-Russian interpreter on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire they purportedly referred to in code as “the big guy” and “the client.”

McGonigal, who had supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska, worked to have Deripaska’s sanctions lifted in 2019 and took money from him in 2021 to investigate a rival oligarch, the Justice Department said.

The FBI investigated McGonigal, showing a willingness to go after one of its own. Nonetheless, the indictment is an unwelcome headline for the FBI at a time when the bureau is entangled in separate, politically charged investigations — the handling of classified documents by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — as newly ascendant Republicans in Congress pledge to investigate high-profile FBI and Justice Department decisions.

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McGonigal and the interpreter, Sergey Shestakov were arrested Saturday — McGonigal after landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Shestakov at his home in Morris, Connecticut — and held at a federal jail in Brooklyn. They both pleaded not guilty Monday and were released on bail.

McGonigal, 54, and Shestakov, 69, are charged with violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering. Shestakov is also charged with making material misstatements to the FBI.

McGonigal “has had a long, distinguished career with the FBI,” his lawyer, Seth DuCharme, told reporters when he left court with McGonigal following his arraignment.

“This is obviously a distressing day for Mr. McGonigal and his family, but we’ll review the evidence, we’ll closely scrutinize it and we have a lot of confidence in Mr. McGonigal,” said DuCharme, the former top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn.

Messages seeking comment were left for lawyers for Shestakov and Deripaska.

McGonigal was separately charged in federal court in Washington, D.C. with concealing at least $225,000 in cash he allegedly received from a former Albanian intelligence official while working for the FBI.

The indictment does not charge or characterize the payment to McGonigal as a bribe, but federal prosecutors say that, while hiding the payment from the FBI, he took actions as an FBI supervisor that were aimed at the ex-intelligence official’s financial benefit.

They included proposing that a pharmaceutical company pay the man’s company $500,000 in exchange for scheduling a business meeting involving a representative from the U.S. delegation to the United Nations.

In a bureau-wide email Monday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said McGonigal’s alleged conduct “is entirely inconsistent with what I see from the men and women of the FBI who demonstrate every day through their actions that they’re worthy of the public’s trust.”

The U.S. Treasury Department added Deripaska to its sanctions list in 2018 for purported ties to the Russian government and Russia’s energy sector amid Russia’s ongoing threats to Ukraine.

In September, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Deripaska and three associates with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions by plotting to ensure his child was born in the United States.

Shestakov, who worked as an interpreter for federal courts and prosecutors in New York City after retiring as a diplomat in 1993, helped connect McGonigal to Deripaska, according to the indictment.

In 2018, while McGonigal was still working for the FBI, Shestakov introduced him to a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who functioned as an agent for Deripaska, the indictment said. That person is not named in court papers but the Justice Department says he was “rumored in public media reports to be a Russian intelligence officer.”

According to the indictment, Shestakov asked McGonigal for help getting the agent’s daughter an internship in the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism and intelligence units. McGonigal agreed, prosecutors say, and told a police department contact that, “I have an interest in her father for a number of reasons.”

According to the indictment, a police sergeant subsequently reported to the NYPD and FBI that the woman claimed to have an “unusually close relationship” with an FBI agent whom, she said, had given her access to confidential FBI files. The sergeant felt it was “unusual for a college student to receive such special treatment from the NYPD and FBI,” the indictment said.

After retiring from the FBI, according to the indictment, McGonigal went to work in 2019 as a consultant and investigator for an international law firm seeking to reverse Deripaska’s sanctions, a process known as “delisting.”

The law firm paid McGonigal $25,000 through a Shestakov-owned corporation, prosecutors say, though the work was ultimately interrupted by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, according to the indictment, Deripaska’s agent enlisted McGonigal and Shestakov to dig up dirt on a rival oligarch, whom Deripaska was fighting for control of a large Russian corporation, in exchange for $51,280 up front and $41,790 per month paid via a Russian bank to a New Jersey company owned by McGonigal’s friend. McGonigal kept his friend in the dark about the true nature of the payments, prosecutors say.

McGonigal is also accused of hiding from the FBI key details of a 2017 trip he took to Albania with the former Albanian intelligence official who is alleged to have given him at least $225,000.

Once there, according to the Justice Department, McGonigal met with Albania’s prime minister and urged caution in awarding oil field drilling licenses in the country to Russian front companies. McGonigal’s Albanian contacts had a financial interest in those decisions.

In an example of how McGonigal allegedly blurred personal gain with professional responsibilities, prosecutors in Washington say he “caused” the FBI’s New York office to open a criminal lobbying investigation in which the former Albanian intelligence official was to serve as a confidential human source.

McGonigal did so, prosecutors allege, without revealing to the FBI or Justice Department his financial connections to the man.

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Eric Tucker reported from Washington. Jim Mustian and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.

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Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and Eric Tucker at twitter.com/etuckerAP. Send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.

US: Ex-FBI counterintelligence agent aided Russian oligarch (2024)

FAQs

US: Ex-FBI counterintelligence agent aided Russian oligarch? ›

“Charles McGonigal helped advance the interests of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, breaking his oath to safeguard our nation and uphold its laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G.

Who is the FBI agent getting 4 years in jail? ›

Charles McGonigal, 55, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison in Manhattan federal court by Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, who said McGonigal harmed national security by repeatedly flouting sanctions meant to put economic pressure on Russia to get results without military force.

Who is the ex FBI McGonigal? ›

Ex-FBI official sentenced gets 2 years in prison for concealing payment Charles McGonigal, a former high-ranking FBI counterintelligence official, was sentenced for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from a businessman with ties to the Albanian government.

What was the ex FBI official sentenced to? ›

McGonigal, 55, a former FBI Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office, was sentenced today to 28 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his undisclosed receipt of $225,000 in cash from an individual with ties to the Albanian government while McGonigal was supervising ...

Who was the FBI agent sentenced to 4 years in Russia? ›

Former FBI spy hunter sentenced to 4 years for taking money from Putin crony in Russia sanctions case. Charles McGonigal, once special agent in charge of a counterintelligence division in New York, took money from Oleg Deripaska in exchange for information on a rival.

Who is the youngest FBI agent ever? ›

Born: July 18, 1969, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Richard Wershe Jr. is the youngest FBI agent to date. Wershe became an FBI informant by chance when he was just 14 years.

Who is Charlie McGonigal's wife? ›

Personal life. McGonigal and his wife Pamela have two children. They have a home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. McGonigal's family did not accompany him during his counterintelligence tour in New York.

Is Kelly McGonigal a professor? ›

She received a B.A. in psychology and a B.S. in mass communication at Boston University, and her Ph. D. at Stanford University, where she is a lecturer in psychology and teaches a public course on willpower.

Who was the ex FBI spy hunter sentenced to 28 months for hiding secret cash payments? ›

Charles McGonigal was sentenced to 28 months in prison, as well as three years of supervised release, in connection with taking $225,000 from a former foreign security officer and businessperson with business interests in foreign countries, the Justice Department said in a news release.

What is Jubal's name on FBI? ›

Jeremy Sisto brilliantly portrays Jubal Valentine in FBI, a character known for his sharp instincts and leadership skills. Jubal's tumultuous personal life adds depth to his professional demeanor.

Who was the former FBI director scammed? ›

The former director of the FBI and CIA is warning older people—as well as their loved ones and caregivers—to be aware of elder fraud schemes. “If it can happen to me, it can happen to you,” says Webster, 98, who was the target of a lottery scam in 2014.

Who was the Democrat indicted by the FBI? ›

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez found guilty on all counts in corruption trial. Menendez is running for re-election to his New Jersey seat as an independent. His conviction doesn't preclude him from serving in the Senate, but many Democrats had already called on him to resign.

What was the FBI before it was called the FBI? ›

The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation, the BOI or BI for short. Its name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935. The FBI headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C.

Who was the NSA spy to Russia? ›

Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former American NSA intelligence contractor and a whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. He became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2022. Elizabeth City, North Carolina, U.S. Kunia Camp, Hawaii, U.S.

Who was the girl who went to jail in Russia? ›

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who spent nearly 10 months in a Russian prison two years ago, said she contemplated suicide in the early days of her detainment. “I did. I didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through,” Griner said during a special ABC News report on 20/20 that aired Wednesday.

Which president of Russia was a former agent of the KGB? ›

Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. In 1996, he moved to Moscow to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin.

Who is the new agent on FBI Season 4? ›

Shantel VanSanten as Nina Chase, an FBI Special Agent.

Who is joining FBI: Most Wanted? ›

Shantel VanSanten joined the cast of FBI: MOST WANTED as Special Agent Nina Chase at the start of season five.

Who is leaving FBI: Most Wanted? ›

Miguel Gomez, who joined the FBI spinoff as Special Agent Ivan Ortiz in Season 2, is leaving the series, according to Deadline, which reports the exit is a creative decision. This comes just months after original series lead Julian McMahon departed the CBS series.

Does the FBI have their own jail? ›

Generally, no. They detain someone at the local jail under a Marshal's detention order. Local law enforcement may never get involved other than local jailers.

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