Charles McGonigal, a former FBI agent charged with working for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, is considering changing his plea in connection with criminal charges of evading

U.S. sanctions and money laundering, as per court records revealed on Monday.

Previously, McGonigal had pleaded not guilty, but a change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rearden in Manhattan has now been scheduled for August 15.

McGonigal's lawyers have not yet responded to requests for comments, and the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, which is handling the case, has declined to comment as well.

Prosecutors alleged in January that McGonigal, who led the FBI's counterintelligence division in New York before retiring in 2018, received concealed payments from Deripaska as part of an investigation into a rival oligarch. Additionally, he was said to have made unsuccessful efforts in 2019 to have U.S. sanctions against Deripaska lifted.

The charges against McGonigal were brought forward as part of the U.S. government's heightened efforts to enforce sanctions on Russian officials and those accused of supporting them, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Oleg Deripaska, the founder of Russian aluminum company Rusal (RUAL.MM), was one of twenty-four Russian oligarchs and government officials blacklisted by the U.S. in 2018 due to allegations of Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Both Deripaska and the Kremlin have consistently denied any involvement in election interference. Photo by LukaszKatlewa, Wikimedia commons.