Former FBI Agent Who Helped Russian Oligarch Spy On Rival Pleads Guilty

Topline

Former FBI special agent Charles McGonigal pleaded guilty Tuesday to money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions while working with sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska—a billionaire who used McGonigal to dig up dirt on a rival oligarch in exchange for thousands of dollars in concealed payments.

McGonigal’s sentencing will take place on December 14, when he faces up to five years in prison. … [+] (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

McGonigal, who handled investigations into Russian oligarchs including Deripaska, conspired to provide services to Deripaska by agreeing to investigate a rival Russian oligarch in return for concealed payments, according to prosecutors.

McGonigal was officially charged in New York with money laundering and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—a national security law that authorizes the president to regulate or prohibit financial transactions of a foreign threat.

McGonigal faces up to five years in prison following his guilty plea involving Deripaska, who was sanctioned in 2018 for ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sergey Shestakov, a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who served as a federal court interpreter, was also charged in the case and has pleaded not guilty to allegedly making false statements to the FBI as part of the scheme.

Key Background

McGonigal was accused early this year of investigating a business rival of Deripaska. Reportedly, the rival was Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s richest businessmen who currently boasts an estimated net worth of $23.7 billion. McGonigal’s investigation allegedly involved probes into Potanin’s assets outside of Russia and the possible ownership of a foreign passport. Deripaska, who has a lower estimated net worth than Potanin, is the founder of Russian industrial firm Basic Element. He held the title of Russia’s richest person in 2008, when he also qualified as the 9th richest person in the world. He lost nearly all of his wealth that year due to floundering markets and overwhelming debt loads. Sanctions were imposed against Deripaska and some of his companies in 2018. McGonigal, Shestakov and an unnamed third person were accused of concealing Deripaska’s involvement in the investigation scheme by not using his name in communications and using a shell company to facilitate payments.

FORBES VALUATION

Deripaska has an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion as of Tuesday, less than half the value of his 2018 net worth.

TANGENT

McGonigal was officially known as the special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York. He was first indicted in January, initially pleading not guilty to his charges. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an internal email reported by the New York Times that the allegations were “entirely inconsistent” with what he saw from the FBI’s members. Charges against senior executives at the FBI have historically been uncommon. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew G. McCabe was nearly hit with criminal charges in 2018 before the Justice Department eventually dropped a criminal investigation into the official. McGonigal also faces charges in Washington, D.C. alleging he made false statements and falsified records made to conceal dealings with a former Albanian official, according to a filing.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

McConigal will be sentenced on December 14 following his guilty plea in the New York case. McGonigal’s attorney Seth DuCharme said earlier this month there was a “decent chance” the Washington, D.C. case is going to be resolved without needing to go to trial, according to CNN.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“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,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Tuesday.