The FBI released the below information:
Former
Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI Counterintelligence Division in New
York, Charles McGonigal, 54, of New York City, pleaded guilty today to
conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)
and to commit money laundering in connection with his 2021 agreement to provide
services to Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
According to court documents, on April 6, 2018, the U.S.
Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska for having acted or purported to act on behalf
of a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation and for
operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia affirmed the sanctions against
Deripaska, finding, among other things, that OFAC’s determination that
Deripaska had acted as an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin was
supported by the evidence.
“After his tenure as a high-level FBI official who supervised
and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, Charles McGonigal has
now admitted that he agreed to evade U.S. sanctions by providing services to
one of those oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for
the Southern District of New York. “This office will continue to hold to
account those who violate U.S. sanctions for their own financial benefit.”
“Charles McGonigal broke his oath to defend the Constitution and
turned his back on his duty to protect the American people in favor of his own
greed by working for a sanctioned Russian oligarch,” said Assistant Director
Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “Every day, the men
and women of the FBI protect the American people and uphold the Constitution.
No matter the perpetrator, even if it’s one of our own, the FBI will go to
great lengths to investigate individuals who put their own interests above U.S.
national security.”
As an FBI official, McGonigal had helped investigate Deripaska
and other Russian oligarchs. In 2018, while serving as SAC, McGonigal received
a then-classified list of Russian oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin who
would be considered for sanctions. In 2021, McGonigal conspired to provide
services to Deripaska, in violation of the U.S. sanctions imposed on Deripaska
in April 2018. Specifically, following his negotiations with an agent of
Deripaska, McGonigal agreed to and did investigate a rival Russian oligarch in
return for concealed payments from Deripaska. As part of their negotiations
with Deripaska’s agent, McGonigal and the agent attempted to conceal
Deripaska’s involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in
electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the
contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature
on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive
payment from Deripaska.
McGonigal faces up to five years in prison for each count and is
scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 14. A federal district court judge will
determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and
other statutory factors.
The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case, with
valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the
New York City Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hagan Scotten, Rebecca T. Dell, and Derek Wikstrom for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case with valuable assistance provided by Trial Attorney Christina A. Clark of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
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