Former FBI official pleads guilty to violating Russia sanctions

The FBI agent tasked with leading investigations into Russian oligarchs pleaded guilty to laundering money on behalf of an oligarch in exchange for investigations on rivals, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Charles McGonigal, now a former special agent, was in charge of the New York FBI Counterintelligence Division and led investigations into Russian oligarchs to determine whether they could be subject to U.S. sanctions.

“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 Suzanne Turner, assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division.

According to federal prosecutors, McGonigal accepted $17,500 from oligarch Oleg Deripaska, worth more than $3 billion. Deripaska has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 and he has been considered one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest confidants, according to a 2006 diplomatic cable.

In return for the money, McGonigal investigated a rival oligarch at Deripaska’s request, the DOJ said. The funds were laundered through shell corporations using false documents, the department claims.

“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,” federal prosecutor Damian Williams said. “This office will continue to hold to account those who violate U.S. sanctions for their own financial benefit.”

Deripaska is one of seven oligarchs initially sanctioned by the United Kingdom in relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The 2018 U.S. sanctions were in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Deripaska also had connections to President Trump via senior adviser Paul Manafort and was a subject of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s campaign in 2019. The investigation found that Manafort allegedly offered Deripaska exclusive information on the campaign through an intermediary.

The DOJ charged Deripaska with violating those sanctions by using shell companies in 2022.

McGonigal will be sentenced on Dec. 14 with a maximum possible sentence of five years. He agreed to return the $17,500 to the U.S. government.