Former FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Aiding Sanctioned Russian Oligarch

Charles McGonigal, a former senior FBI official, pleaded guilty in connection with a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions against Russia, DOJ announced Aug. 15. McGonigal was charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in January after DOJ said he “provided services” to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in exchange for payments, including by agreeing to investigate a Russian oligarch who was a rival of Deripaska (see 2301230030 and 2308080030).

McGonigal, “by his own admission, betrayed his oath and actively concealed his illicit work at the bidding of a sanctioned Russian oligarch,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said. McGonigal’s guilty 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.”