Federal officials stated that former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI Counterintelligence Division in New York, Charles McGonigal, 54, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against Russia.
Specifically, McGonigal, of New York City, conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and 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 federal court affirmed the sanctions against Deripaska, finding, among other things, that the evidence supported OFAC’s determination that Deripaska had acted as an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Charles McGonigal, by his own admission, betrayed his oath and actively concealed his illicit work at the bidding of a sanctioned Russian oligarch,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
. “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.
The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hagan Scotten, Rebecca T. Dell, and Derek Wikstrom for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case .