BIS Suspends Export Privileges of 4 People, Including FBI Agent Who Aided Oligarch
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently suspended the export privileges of four people, including two for violating U.S. restrictions against Russia and two others for illegal ammunition exports.
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The agency said it revoked the export privileges of Charles McGonigal of New York -- the former FBI agent who pleaded guilty in 2023 to aiding sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska (see 2312150015) -- for 10 years from his Dec. 14, 2023, conviction date. BIS said it won’t allow McGonigal to participate in activities subject to the Export Administration Regulations after he conspired to violate U.S. sanctions against Russia by working for a Russian oligarch “whom he once investigated.” McGonigal was sentenced to 50 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment and a $40,000 fine.
BIS issued a five-year export suspension against Robert Wise, a Pelham, New York-based lawyer who helped manage luxury properties for sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. Wise pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering through his efforts to help Vekselberg maintain his properties (see 2312060031). Wise was sentenced to time served, two years of supervised release -- with the first year in home detention -- and a $100,000 fine. His export suspension began on his Dec. 4, 2023, conviction date.
Ruben Arnulfo Chavarin of Arizona was convicted April 9, 2021, of smuggling ammunition from the U.S. to Mexico, and was sentenced to 78 months in prison with credit for time served, three years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment and more than $10,000 in fines. BIS suspended Chavarin’s export privileges for 10 years from the conviction date.
Melanie Ann Espinoza, also of Arizona, was convicted Aug. 26, 2021, of smuggling about 7,000 rounds of Wolf 7.62 x 39 caliber ammunition, 1,500 rounds of Wolf .223 caliber ammunition, 2,000 rounds of Wolf 9 mm caliber ammunition and 50 rounds of Magtech Super .38 ammunition. Espinoza was sentenced to nine months in prison with credit for time served, three years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment and a seven-year export suspension from the conviction date.