Charles McGonigal, former special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York, arrives to Manhattan federal court in New York, Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig). Inset: Paul Manafort (via Alexandria Detention Center)
The ex-FBI agent who helped run the FBI Counterintelligence Division in New York has confessed to being part of a plot to assist a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
Charles McGonigal, 54, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and to commit money laundering, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. He was indicted in January for allegedly agreeing to investigate the rival of sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in exchange for “concealed payments.”
Deripaska was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April 2018 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 DOJ statement said. A federal court found that evidence supported a finding that Deripaska had acted as an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Deripaska has links to one-time Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who was convicted of bank fraud and tax fraud in 2018 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and witness tampering in a separate case in the District of Columbia. He was later pardoned by outgoing President Trump.
Deripaska was indicted in the U.S. on allegations of evading sanctions and featured prominently in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and possible interference with the 2016 presidential election.
As an FBI official, McGonigal had helped investigate Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs, the DOJ said, and in 2018, he received what was then a classified list of Russian oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin who would be considered for sanctions. Within a few years, however, McGonigal had agreed to “provide services” to Deripaska, in violation of the sanctions against him.
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“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,” the DOJ says. “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. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 14.
“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. “Today’s plea shows the Department of Justice’s resolve to pursue and dismantle the illegal networks that Russian oligarchs use to try to escape the reach of our sanctions and evade our laws.”
McGonigal had worked in Russian counterintelligence, organized crime matters, and counter-espionage during his more than 20-year career with the FBI.
Read McGonigal’s plea agreement here.
Adam Klasfeld contributed to this report.
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