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Former top FBI official arrested after returning from Sri Lanka

A former top FBI official, in New York, has been arrested over his ties to a Russian oligarch, law enforcement sources told ABC News. He was arrested after he returned from a trip to Sri lanka.

Charles McGonigal, who was the special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the FBI’s New York Field Office, is under arrest over his ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States, and criminally charged last year, with violating those sanctions.

McGonigal retired from the FBI, in 2018. He was arrested Saturday afternoon after he arrived at JFK Airport, following travel in Sri Lanka, the sources said.McGonigal pleaded not guilty to the four-count indictment unsealed Monday in Manhattan.

The judge ordered him released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond, plus restrictions on his travel, and prohibitions on contacting anyone associated with the case.He was charged, along with a Court interpreter, Sergey Shestakov, who also worked with Deripaska.

McGonigal, 54, is charged with violating U.S. sanctions by trying to get Deripaska off the sanctions list. McGonigal is one of the highest ranking former FBI officials ever charged with a crime.

“Charlie has had a long, distinguished career with the FBI. He has served the United States for decades,” McGonigal’s lawyer, Seth DuCharme, told ABC News in a statement. “This is obviously a distressing day for Mr. McGonigal and his family, but we’ll review the evidence, we’ll closely scrutinize it, and we have a lot of confidence in Mr. McGonigal.”

McGonigal and Shestakov, who worked for the FBI investigating oligarchs, allegedly agreed, in 2021, to investigate a rival Russian oligarch, in return for payments from Deripaska, according to the Justice Department. McGonigal and Shestakov are accused of receiving payments through shell companies and forging signatures in order to keep it a secret that Deripaska was paying them.

Both face money laundering charges, in addition to charges for violating sanctions. Each of four counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

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