Retired Top FBI Counterintelligence Official Worked With Ex Russian Intelligence Officer Close to Deripaska, Foreign Agent Paperwork Reveals
Sergey Shestakov, a former senior Soviet official, registered as a Foreign Agent for a top aide to Oleg Deripaska.
Scott Stedman
Forensic News, Dec. 20, 2021
A former senior Soviet Foreign Ministry official in the U.S. filed as a Foreign Agent for a top aide to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has been described by the U.S. Senate as a key figure in the Kremlin’s malign influence operations.
The paperwork filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) has raised numerous concerns from experts who have noted that the aide, Yevgenyi (Evgeny, Evgeniy) Fokin, has reportedly been flagged by the FBI as a former senior Russian intelligence official.
In addition, the filing raises questions about the involvement of a former senior FBI counterintelligence official who reportedly connected Fokin to a law firm and business intelligence consultants.
The FARA filing was first publicly spotted by Wendy Siegelman, an independent investigative journalist.
The Foreign Agent filing
On Nov. 29, 2021, Sergey Shestakov, the former Soviet diplomat, registered as a Foreign Agent for Fokin, the alleged former senior Russian intelligence official.
Though the filing is scarce on details, Shestakov stated that he enlisted Charles F. McGonigal, the FBI’s former top counterintelligence official in New York, to connect Fokin to the law firm Kobre & Kim as well as “business intelligence consultants” Spectrum Risk Solutions.
“Mr. Fokin has contacted me seeking professional assistance in the US, which have resulted in the retention of the law firm of Kobre & Kim and later and separately the business intelligence consultants Spectrum Risk Solutions,” Shestakov stated. “I acted in hope that my assistance would result in a facilitation fee from the US entities retained, and I have received such fees.”
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https://forensicnews.net/retired-top-fbi-counterintelligence-official-worked-with-ex-russian-intelligence-officer-close-to-deripaska-foreign-agent-paperwork-reveals/