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Former Top F.B.I. Official in New York Charged With Aiding Oligarch Former Senior F.B.I. Official in New York Charged With Aiding Oligarch
(about 2 hours later)
A former high-level F.B.I. official has been indicted in New York and Washington, D.C., on charges of taking money from a former foreign intelligence service agent and conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by taking secret payments from a Russian oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, the authorities said on Monday. A former senior F.B.I. official who oversaw some of its most secret and sensitive counterintelligence investigations in New York was accused on Monday of taking money from a former Albanian intelligence employee and from a representative of a Russian oligarch.
The former official, Charles McGonigal, who had been the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s counterintelligence division in New York before he retired in 2018, had supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Mr. Deripaska, the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said. The charges against the former official, Charles F. McGonigal, came in separate indictments unsealed in New York and Washington, D.C., after an investigation by his own agency and federal prosecutors. In the New York case, he was charged with violating economic sanctions that the United States has imposed on Russia.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. McGonigal, 54, broke U.S. law by agreeing to help Mr. Deripaska, who himself was indicted last year on sanctions charges, attempt to get off the sanctions list and by investigating a rival oligarch. The charges are an extremely serious and rare accusation against an F.B.I. official, and they demonstrate that the reach of Russia’s oligarchs can extend into the heart of American law enforcement. Before he retired in 2018, Mr. McGonigal had been the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s counterintelligence division in New York. In that post, he supervised investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Oleg V. Deripaska, the oligarch whom the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan on Monday charged him with aiding.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. McGonigal, 54, broke U.S. law by agreeing to help Mr. Deripaska — who was indicted himself last year on sanctions charges — try to get off the sanctions list and also investigate a rival oligarch. The charges are a serious and rare accusation against an senior F.B.I. official, and they demonstrate that the reach of Russia’s oligarchs can extend into the heart of American law enforcement.
“This is an unprecedented case, which rightly or wrongly will fuel political criticism and concern about the F.B.I.,” said Jonathan C. Poling, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s national security division. “The charges demonstrate D.O.J. clearly intends to send a strong message, including to former officials that worked in national security fields.”“This is an unprecedented case, which rightly or wrongly will fuel political criticism and concern about the F.B.I.,” said Jonathan C. Poling, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s national security division. “The charges demonstrate D.O.J. clearly intends to send a strong message, including to former officials that worked in national security fields.”
The indictment unsealed in Washington on Monday charged that Mr. McGonigal, while working for the bureau and after he retired, concealed from the F.B.I. a relationship with a former Albanian intelligence officer from whom he received $225,000 in cash. That person became an F.B.I. source in a criminal investigation involving foreign political lobbying that Mr. McGonigal supervised, the Justice Department said in a statement. The indictment unsealed in Washington charged that Mr. McGonigal, while working for the bureau, took $225,000 in secret cash payments from a person who decades earlier had served with Albanian intelligence. Mr. McGonigal concealed that relationship from the F.B.I., the indictment said.
Michael J. Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office, said the bureau was committed to the enforcement of economic sanctions designed to protect the United States and its allies. The indictment also charges that the F.B.I.’s New York office, at Mr. McGonigal’s request, opened a criminal investigation into foreign lobbying in which the former Albanian intelligence employee, who was not named in the indictment, provided information as a confidential informant.
“Russian oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska perform global malign influence on behalf of the Kremlin and are associated with acts of bribery, extortion and violence,” Mr. Driscoll said. “There are no exceptions for anyone, including a former F.B.I. official like Mr. McGonigal.” Michael J. Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office, said the bureau was committed to enforcing economic sanctions designed to protect the United States and its allies, saying, “There are no exceptions for anyone, including a former F.B.I. official like Mr. McGonigal.”
“Russian oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska perform global malign influence on behalf of the Kremlin and are associated with acts of bribery, extortion and violence,” he added.
In an email to F.B.I. employees, the bureau’s director, Christopher Wray, called the conduct sketched out in court papers “entirely inconsistent with what I see from the men and women of the FBI who demonstrate every day through their actions that they’re worthy of the public’s trust.”
The indictment unsealed on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan charges Mr. McGonigal with one count of violating U.S. sanctions, one count of money laundering and two conspiracy counts for what it said were attempts to aid Mr. Deripaska.The indictment unsealed on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan charges Mr. McGonigal with one count of violating U.S. sanctions, one count of money laundering and two conspiracy counts for what it said were attempts to aid Mr. Deripaska.
Mr. Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was a client of Paul Manafort, who for several months in 2016 served as Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman and in 2018 was convicted of financial fraud and other crimes.Mr. Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was a client of Paul Manafort, who for several months in 2016 served as Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman and in 2018 was convicted of financial fraud and other crimes.
Mr. McGonigal’s lawyer, Seth D. DuCharme, said his client intends to plead not guilty when he appears in federal court in Manhattan on Monday. Mr. McGonigal’s lawyer, Seth D. DuCharme, said his client, who pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, would be vindicated.
“Charlie served the United States capably, effectively, for decades,” said Mr. DuCharme. “We have closely reviewed the accusations made by the government and we look forward to receiving discovery so we can get a view on what the evidence is upon which the government intends to rely.”“Charlie served the United States capably, effectively, for decades,” said Mr. DuCharme. “We have closely reviewed the accusations made by the government and we look forward to receiving discovery so we can get a view on what the evidence is upon which the government intends to rely.”
The indictment also charged a second man, Sergey Shestakov, 69, a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who later became an American citizen and who worked as a Russian interpreter for courts and government offices. Mr. Shestakov’s lawyer, Bennett M. Epstein, declined to comment. Mr. McGonigal’s arrest shocked former colleagues. They said he primarily investigated Russian counterintelligence and espionage during his lengthy career. Mr. McGonigal also took on extremely sensitive assignments in the intelligence community, leading an F.B.I. team that investigated why C.I.A. informants in China were being arrested and killed.
Mr. McGonigal was arrested on Saturday at about 2 p.m. at John F. Kennedy Airport, according a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, and Mr. Shestakov was arrested at about the same time at his home in Morris, Conn. Charges against former or current F.B.I. senior executives are rare. In 2018, Andrew G. McCabe, the former acting and deputy director, was referred for prosecution after the Justice Department inspector general accused him of misleading investigators. The case was eventually dropped. In 1996, a senior official was charged with obstruction in connection with a deadly 1992 standoff in a remote section of Idaho called Ruby Ridge.
Mr. McGonigal’s arrest shocked former colleagues who worked closely with him. They said he primarily investigated Russian counterintelligence and espionage during his lengthy career with the F.B.I. Mr. McGonigal also took on extremely sensitive assignments in the intelligence community, leading an F.B.I. team that investigated why C.I.A. informants in China were being arrested and killed. About two decades earlier, the acting F.B.I. director and his deputy, along with another official in charge of counterintelligence, were indicted on conspiracy charges for organizing break-ins at the homes of political dissidents without warrants. It was the first time an F.B.I. director or former bureau executive had been charged criminally.
The charging of a former or current F.B.I. senior executive appears to be extremely rare. In 2018, Andrew G. McCabe, the former acting and deputy director, was referred for prosecution after the Justice Department inspector general accused him of misleading investigators. But the case was eventually dropped. In 1996, a senior F.B.I. official was charged with obstruction in connection with the deadly 1992 standoff in a remote section of Idaho called Ruby Ridge. Nearly two decades earlier, the acting F.B.I. director and his deputy, along with another official in charge of counterintelligence, were indicted on conspiracy charges. The charges were the first time an F.B.I. director or former bureau executive had been charged criminally. The indictment in Manhattan on Monday also charged a second man, Sergey Shestakov, 69, a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who became an American citizen. Mr. Shestakov later worked as an interpreter for the federal courts and U.S. attorney’s offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, according to the indictment.
Adam Goldman contributed reporting. Mr. McGonigal was arrested on Saturday about 2 p.m. at Kennedy International Airport, according to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, and Mr. Shestakov was arrested about the same time at his home in Morris, Conn.
Mr. Shestakov also pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Bennett M. Epstein, declined to comment.
“As public servants, they should have known better,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District, said of Mr. McGonigal and Mr. Shestakov, adding that his office would continue to prosecute “those who violate U.S. sanctions enacted in response to Russian belligerence in Ukraine in order to line their own pockets.”
Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. attorney in Washington, commended the bureau “for handling the delicate and difficult task” of investigating a former senior official.
Mr. McGonigal served in the F.B.I. for more than two decades, working in Russian counterintelligence, organized crime and counterespionage, according to the Southern District indictment. He had a role in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election led by Robert Mueller III, asking judges to renew wiretaps on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. The agency later conceded the surveillance was not legally justified.
In his final years with the F.B.I., Mr. McGonigal ran the counterintelligence division of the bureau’s New York office before retiring in September 2018. That same year, the Treasury Department’s office of foreign assets control imposed sanctions on Mr. Deripaska.
The indictment says that while Mr. McGonigal was still working for the bureau in 2018, Mr. Shestakov introduced him via email to an employee of Mr. Deripaska. The indictment identifies the employee only as Agent-1 and describes him as a former Soviet and Russian Federation diplomat.
Mr. Shestakov asked Mr. McGonigal to help Agent-1’s daughter obtain an internship with the New York Police Department in counterterrorism, intelligence gathering or “international liaisoning,” according to the indictment.
The indictment says Mr. McGonigal agreed, and he sought help from someone he knew in the department, telling his contact, “I have an interest in her father for a number of reasons.” Mr. McGonigal also told an F.B.I. subordinate that he wanted to recruit Agent-1, whom he described as a Russian intelligence officer, the indictment says.
Through Mr. McGonigal’s efforts, Agent-1’s daughter “received V.I.P. treatment from the N.Y.P.D.,” according to the indictment. A police sergeant assigned to brief the daughter later reported the event to the department and the bureau after Agent-1’s daughter “claimed to have an unusually close relationship to ‘an F.B.I. agent’ who had given her access to confidential F.B.I. files, and it was unusual for a college student to receive such special treatment from the N.Y.P.D. and F.B.I.,” the indictment said.
The New York Police Department declined to comment on the case.
In 2019, the indictment says, Mr. McGonigal and Mr. Shestakov introduced Agent-1 to a law firm in New York. Agent-1 wanted to retain the firm to work at lifting the sanctions on Mr. Deripaska.
Mr. Deripaska personally signed an engagement letter with the firm, under which he would pay the firm $175,000 a month, with $25,000 “currently earmarked” for “certain other professionals,” the indictment says. It adds that the firm retained Mr. McGonigal as a consultant and investigator, and he asked that it compensate him by sending $25,000 to a corporation Mr. Shestakov owned.
In 2021, Agent-1 began negotiating with Mr. McGonigal and Mr. Shestakov to work directly for Mr. Deripaska on a matter that would not be legal under the sanctions, the indictment charges.
The project was to investigate a rival, identified in the indictment only as Oligarch-2, over such issues as his interests in a Russian corporation over which the oligarch and Mr. Deripaska were fighting for control, and of hidden assets Oligarch-2 might have outside Russia.
In electronic messages among themselves, the indictment says, the defendants did not refer to Mr. Deripaska by name but rather as “you know whom,” “the client” and “the big guy.”
The indictment against Mr. McGonigal that was unsealed in Washington charged him with one count of concealing material facts, six counts of making false statements and two counts of falsification of records and documents.
It said he requested and received at least $225,000 in cash from the former employee of an Albanian intelligence service, who had business interests in Europe that involved foreign governments.
That indictment says that starting in August 2017 and continuing beyond Mr. McGonigal’s retirement from the F.B.I. the next year, he concealed the nature of his relationship with the former intelligence employee. Mr. McGonigal was also involved in additional conduct “in his official capacity” that “he believed would benefit” the person, Justice Department officials said.
Adam Goldman, Maria Cramer and Brittany Kriegstein contributed reporting.