Former counterintelligence head in FBI’s New York office arrested for alleged money laundering, violating sanctions on Russia

The former head of counterintelligence for the FBI's New York City office was arrested over the weekend on charges of money laundering and violating sanctions on Russia, three

senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. An FBI spokesman confirmed the arrest of Charles McGonigal, who was apprehended at JFK airport in New York on Saturday after

returning on a flight from the Middle East.  U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, “As alleged, Charles McGonigal, a former high-level FBI official, and Sergey Shestakov, a

Court interpreter, violated U.S. sanctions by agreeing to provide services to Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch. They both previously worked with Deripaska to attempt

to have his sanctions removed, and, as public servants, they should have known better.” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll said, “The FBI is committed to

the enforcement of economic sanctions designed to protect the United States and our allies, especially against hostile activities of a foreign government and its actors. Russian

oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska perform global malign influence on behalf of the Kremlin and are associated with acts of bribery, extortion, and violence." McGonigal was named

special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division for the New York Field Office in 2016, after serving as the section chief of the Cyber-Counterintelligence Coordination

Section at FBI headquarters. McGonigal joined the FBI in 1996, and was first assigned to the New York Field Office, where he worked on Russian foreign counterintelligence

and organized crime.