Former FBI official charged with violating Russia sanctions, money laundering

Washington — The former top counterintelligence official at the FBI's New York field office has been arrested and charged with violating U.S. sanctions on Russia and money

laundering, the Justice Department said Monday. Charles McGonigal, 54, was accused in a five-count indictment of working for Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, who has

been under U.S. sanctions since 2018. Sergey Shestakov, a former Russian diplomat turned U.S. citizen who worked as an interpreter for federal courts and prosecutors, was also

charged in the scheme. Federal prosecutors allege the pair worked for Deripaska to investigate an unnamed rival Russian oligarch in 2021 in violation of U.S. sanctions and

worked to conceal their activity. Shestakov faces an additional charge of lying to FBI investigators. Attorneys for both men could not immediately be identified ahead of a

scheduled court appearance Monday afternoon. McGonigal retired in 2018 after 22 years with the bureau, most recently as a special agent in charge of the FBI's

Counterintelligence Division in New York. The Justice Department said he "supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska." According

to the 21-page indictment unsealed Monday, federal prosecutors said McGonigal knew his actions violated sanctions because, in his capacity as the special agent in charge, he

received then-classified information that Deripaska would be added to a list of oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin who were considered for sanctions.