Accusation of a former employee of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with a Russian billionaire

The US Department of Justice has announced that it has charged a former US Federal Bureau of Investigation official with money laundering and sanctions circumvention in collaboration with Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.

And in a statement Monday, the agency said the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the local FBI office have declassified a 5-count indictment against citizens Charles McGonigal and Sergey Shestakov accused of “conspiracy.” for the purpose of violating the International Economic Opportunity Act and conspiring to launder money.

Shestakov is also accused of giving false evidence to the FBI.

It is noteworthy that the defendants were arrested last Saturday and are due to appear in court on Monday.

McGonigal was the director of counterintelligence for the FBI in New York. Shestakov, a US citizen of Russian origin, worked as an interpreter from Russian in the judiciary.

According to the US Department of Justice documents, McGonigal oversaw the investigation of cases related to the assets of Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska in the United States.

McGonigal and Shestakov are accused of contacting one of Deripaska’s representatives and launching an investigation against one of the Russian businessman’s competitors, asking him for the amount of money they allegedly received through shell companies, as well as that they were engaged in activities for lifting US sanctions against Oleg Deripaska in 2019.

It is noteworthy that the United States imposed sanctions against Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska in 2018 in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. Deripaska filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury alleging that the sanctions against him were illegal and cost him $7.5 billion in compensation.

Source: TASS

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