A former senior FBI official arrested for collaborating with a Russian oligarch

A former senior official Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, in English) has been arrested and charged with various crimes for allegedly collaborating with a Russian oligarch in violation of sanctions imposed by USA to that country, the federal authorities announced Monday.

charles mcgonigalwho was the head of the counterintelligence division of the FBI in NY until he retired in 2018, he faces five charges including conspiracy to evade sanctions and conspiracy to launder money.

LOOK HERE: Ad blocker: what is it and why is its use important to keep us safe from cybercrime?

Along with him, he was also arrested this Saturday Sergey Shestakova former Russian diplomat who worked in the US as an interpreter and who is charged in this same case, the Justice Department explained in a statement.

Both are scheduled to appear this Monday before a judge in a federal court in the New York district of Manhattan.

Authorities accuse McGonigal of accepting secret payments from the oligarch Oleg Deripaska in exchange for investigating a rival, using shell companies to hide this collaboration, which according to the US violates the sanctions that have been imposed on the millionaire Russian businessman since 2018.

Deripaska, a well-known figure close to the Russian government, was charged last year with evading those sanctions and lying to get his son to be born in the United States.

According to prosecutors, the former FBI agent led the investigation of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska himself, during his career and took advantage of that experience to first try in 2019 to get the punishments imposed on the businessman lifted and then collaborate with him and gather information about one of his rivals in 2021.

MORE INFORMATION: Spain analyzes the extradition to the US of accused of accessing the Twitter of Biden, Obama and Gates

The US authorities emphasize that both McGonigal and Shestakov, who would have collaborated with him in these operations, were aware that he was violating sanctions.

In a parallel case, McGonigal himself was charged Monday in a Washington court with concealing $225,000 in payments received.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.