A former FBI official with ties to the investigation into Russia’s alleged links to Donald Trump‘s 2016 election campaign has been charged with providing services to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.Charles McGonigal, 54, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York office, is accused of secretly working with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, including attempting to have him removed from the U.S. sanctions list in 2019. McGonigal, along with Sergey Shestakov, a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who later became a U.S. citizen and a Russian interpreter for courts and government offices, has also been charged with allegedly being paid by Deripaska to investigate a rival oligarch, and then attempting to conceal the payments.During his time in the FBI, McGonigal participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.He was also one of the key figures who helped trigger special counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into allegations that Trump’s campaign team colluded with Russia to help the former president win the 2016 election.

A former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New York Counterintelligence Division and a former Soviet and Russian diplomat were arrested Saturday on criminal charges related to their alleged violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering.According to court documents, Charles F. McGonigal, 54, of New York City, and Sergey Shestakov, 69, of Morris, Connecticut, are charged in a five-count indictment unsealed today in the Southern District of New York with violating and conspiring to violate the IEEPA, and with conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering.According to court documents, on April 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Oleg Deripaska as a Specially Designated National (SDN) in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. According to the U.S. Treasury, Deripaska was sanctioned for having acted or purported to act on behalf of, directly or indirectly, a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation and for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy.McGonigal is a former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in New York who retired in 2018. While working at the FBI, McGonigal supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska. Sergey Shestakov is a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who later became a U.S. citizen and a Russian interpreter for courts and government.

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 25 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism (as defined in section 2331 of this title)), 20 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 929(a) of this title)), 10 years (in the case of the first or second such offense, if the offense was not committed to facilitate such an act of international terrorism or a drug trafficking crime), or 15 years (in the case of any other offense), or both.

In or about the Spring and Summer of 2018, Shestakov asked McGonigal to help Agent-1 obtain an internship with the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) for Agent-1’s daughter in the fields of counterterrorism, intelligence gathering, and “international liaising.”  McGonical agreed to help and he requested assistance from a contact in the NYPD, telling the contact, “I have an interest in her father for a number of reason.”  McGonical lso informed an FBI supervisor who worked for McGonical that McGonical wanted to recruit Agent-1, who was, according to McGonical, a Russian intelligence officer.  Through McGonigal’s efforts, Agent-1’s daughter received VIP treatment from the NYPD.  An NYPD Sergeant assigned to brief Agent-1’s daughter subsequently  reports the event to the NYPD and FBI, because among other reasons, Agent-1’s daughter claimed to have n unusually close relationship to “an FBI agent” who had given her access to confidential FBI files, and it was unusual for a college student to receive such special treatment from the NYPD and FBI.