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New York Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Ex-McKinsey partner to serve 6 months in jail for destroying records on work to ‘turbocharge' OxyContin sales
A former senior partner at McKinsey & Company was sentenced on Friday to six months in federal prison for destroying records of the firm's work to 'turbocharge' Purdue Pharma's OxyContin sales during the opioid crisis. Martin Elling, 60, pleaded guilty in January to obstruction of justice related to criminal investigations into McKinsey's consulting work with opioid manufacturers. McKinsey last year agreed to pay $650 million to settle those probes. 'Today's sentencing sends a resounding message: those who attempt to obstruct justice and conceal the truth – no matter how senior, sophisticated, or well-connected – will be held accountable,' Leah Foley, US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement. Advertisement 3 Martin Elling, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company. McKinsey & Company In a statement, Elling's legal team confirmed the sentencing and said he is 'extremely sorry.' 'He intends to spend the remainder of his life seeking to regain the trust of those whom he disappointed with his conduct, by supporting his family and friends and giving back to the less fortunate, as he has done for the past decades,' his lawyers told The Post. Advertisement Elling's sentencing took place at a federal courthouse in Abingdon, Va., a town in Appalachia – one of the regions hit hardest by the opioid crisis, which killed more than 42,000 people across the country in 2016 alone, according to the National Library of Medicine. Purdue Pharma engaged McKinsey in 2013 to drive OxyContin revenue and 'turbocharge' sales, according to court documents. Elling, who was also ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service and pay a $40,000 fine, served as the director of the team for about 30 of McKinsey's engagements with the pharma giant, according to the Department of Justice. In 2018, Elling emailed another senior partner with concerns that a Purdue board member was being sued by state attorneys general. Advertisement 'It probably makes sense to have a quick conversation with the risk committee to see if we should be doing anything other [than] eliminating all our documents and emails. Suspect not but as things get tougher there someone might turn to us,' Elling wrote. 3 Purdue Pharma reportedly engaged McKinsey & Company to 'turbocharge' OxyContin sales. REUTERS A forensic analysis found that Elling had deleted materials from his company-issued laptop related to their work with Purdue – after seemingly emailing himself a reminder. The subject line of a 2018 email to himself read 'When home,' and the items listed included: 'deleted old pur documents from laptop,' according to court documents. Advertisement He later emailed himself another reminder: 'Remove Pur folder from garbage,' according to the analysis. Elling was fired from McKinsey in 2020. The consulting firm in December apologized for its work with Purdue and 'the actions of a former partner who deleted documents related to his work for that client.' 3 McKinsey & Company agreed to pay $650 million to settle investigations into its work with opioid manufacturers. REUTERS Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Elling to a year in prison. 'This is a rare case: a well-educated senior partner at one of the world's foremost consulting companies was caught destroying documents relating to the investigation of OxyContin, a powerful opioid narcotic drug, against the tragic backdrop of the opioid crisis,' prosecutors said in a memo signed by Randy Ramseyer. Ramseyer led a probe into Purdue in 2007 that secured guilty pleas from its executives for misleading doctors and patients about OxyContin risks. McKinsey, one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, employs more than 700 senior partners who are typically paid millions of dollars a year.
India Gazette
23-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Martin Elling, Ex-McKinsey partner sentenced to prison for obstructing justice by a US court
New Delhi [India], May 23 (ANI): Martin Elling, former partner at McKinsey & Co., received a six-month prison sentence for obstructing justice, Reuters reported on ex- McKinsey partner was involved in destruction of documents related to the consulting firm's advice to Purdue Pharma on how to aggressively increase sales of their opioid painkiller, reported by Reuters, U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou delivered the sentence in Abingdon, Virginia, after McKinsey's December agreement to pay USD 650 million to settle related charges from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding their work for in the case had sought a one-year prison term after Elling's guilty plea in January. His lawyer argued that any jail time would be 'devastating' and bar him from living in his new residence in Thailand.A representative for Elling's legal team confirmed the sentence and stated that he is apologetic for his Pharma itself admitted guilt in 2020 to charges related to the misconduct related to its marketing and sale of its prescription played a role in securing McKinsey's work with Purdue in 2013, which led to the New York-based firm developing a strategy to significantly increase OxyContin detailed that this strategy involved targeting 'high-value' medical professionals, including those who prescribed opioids documents revealed that Elling was among a small group of McKinsey partners who attended a 2013 meeting with the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, who ultimately approved McKinsey's July 2018, after learning about a lawsuit filed against Purdue by the Massachusetts attorney general, Elling emailed a McKinsey colleague questioning whether they should 'eliminate all our documents and emails.'The following month, Elling emailed himself a reminder to 'delete old pur (Purdue Pharma) documents from laptop,' and prosecutors stated that a forensic analysis confirmed he did so. (ANI)
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Former McKinsey partner jailed for deleting emails on US opioid work
A former senior partner at McKinsey has been sentenced to six months in prison for deleting documents on the consulting firm's work for opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma . Martin Elling pleaded guilty in January to a single charge of obstruction of justice, admitting he erased more than 100 computer files related to his work for Purdue after prosecutors began investigating the drugmaker's role in an epidemic of opioid addiction ravaging the US. Elling was on a team of McKinsey consultants who advised Purdue, the maker of OxyContin, on how to 'turbocharge' sales of the painkiller. Purdue had hired McKinsey in 2013 to help revive sales of the painkiller, and Elling helped win the business and lead the team that devised the strategy, which involved aggressive marketing to doctors who liberally prescribed the drug, according to federal prosecutors. In August 2018, after news reports that US authorities were investigating the company, Elling emailed himself a to-do list with the subject line 'When home' that included the item 'delete old pur [Purdue Pharma] documents from laptop', according to court filings. READ MORE A forensic analysis showed that a folder named 'Purdue' disappeared along with more than 100 documents. Prosecutors said the deletions were intended to shield evidence about his and McKinsey's role in the US public health crisis stemming from opioid addiction, which has led to nearly 1 million deaths since the turn of the century. McKinsey has paid about $1.6bn to settle an array of legal claims that its work for opioid manufacturers contributed to the addiction crisis, including a $650 million deferred prosecution agreement with the US justice department in December. The firm has said its opioid work was a source of 'profound regret' and that it has since revamped risk management processes. Elling was on Thursday sentenced to six months in prison plus 1,000 hours of community service over two years of supervised release, according to a spokesperson for his lawyers. 'Martin fully accepts responsibility for his conduct, for which he is extremely sorry,' his legal team said in a statement. 'He intends to spend the remainder of his life seeking to regain the trust of those whom he disappointed with his conduct.' Prosecutors had argued for a 12-month sentence, 'to send a message to white-collar defendants that they are not above the law, and to deter others from attempting to evade responsibility by destroying evidence'. Elling's attorney, Thomas Bondurant, wrote in a filing ahead of sentencing that his client 'sincerely regrets his actions, he understands their severity, and he fully accepts their consequences', and that he had 'already paid a great price for his actions'. Elling was fired by McKinsey in 2021 after the disclosure of an internal email in which Elling discussed deleting documents. Bondurant said that a prison term would mean Elling could not return to Thailand, where he has been living since 2019. Some of the firm's most senior former executives weighed in as character witnesses, including former managing partner Kevin Sneader, and Elling's attorneys called his actions 'an extraordinary aberration' in a 30-year McKinsey career. Sneader, who led McKinsey as its global managing partner from 2018 to 2021 and is now an executive at Goldman Sachs, called Elling 'generous; knowledgeable; well travelled; insightful' in a character reference submitted to Judge Robert Ballou of the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia. 'Martin was seen as a truly valued coach to 100s of colleagues who benefited from his generosity of time even though there were many more financially rewarding ways in which he could have spent the countless hours to which he devoted himself to help others succeed,' Sneader wrote. Elling also attracted character references from Michael Silber, McKinsey's former chief financial officer, and Katy George, its former chief people officer who is now at Microsoft, among 39 written submissions ahead of the hearing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Ex-McKinsey Partner Sentenced in Obstruction Case
A former senior partner at McKinsey & Company was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison for destroying records that shed light on the firm's role in the national opioid crisis. The partner, Martin Elling, 60, had pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice as part of a federal case against the firm and its efforts to 'turbocharge' sales of OxyContin during an overdose epidemic that had already killed hundreds of thousands of people. McKinsey agreed to pay $650 million to end that investigation last December. The records purge happened in 2018, when Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, was facing multiple lawsuits. Mr. Elling emailed a colleague who worked with him on the Purdue account, writing: 'It probably makes sense to have a quick conversation with the risk committee to see if we should be doing anything' other than 'eliminating all our documents and emails. Suspect not but as things get tougher there someone might turn to us.' Mr. Elling was fired after The New York Times reported about the exchange in 2020. After he sent that email, Mr. Elling proceeded to delete files related to his work with Purdue, according to the Justice Department, which performed a forensic analysis of his laptop. In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Elling's legal team confirmed the sentencing and said he 'fully accepts responsibility for his conduct, for which he is extremely sorry.' Besides the six-month prison term, handed down in Federal District Court in Abingdon, Va., Mr. Elling will serve 1,000 hours of community service over two years of supervised release. McKinsey's work with clients around the world has come under intense public scrutiny in recent years, leading the firm to pay out more than $1.5 billion in fines and penalties. Last year, McKinsey's work in China was the focus of a Senate hearing, and the firm agreed to pay more than $122 million to resolve a bribery investigation involving a branch in South Africa. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-McKinsey partner who advised opioid maker Purdue Pharma sentenced to prison
By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - A former McKinsey & Co partner was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison for obstructing justice by destroying records related to advice the consulting firm gave Purdue Pharma on how to "turbocharge" sales of the opioid painkiller OxyContin. Martin Elling, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou in Abingdon, Virginia, after his former employer agreed in December to pay $650 million to resolve related charges by the U.S. Department of Justice over its work for Purdue. Prosecutors argued Elling deserved a year in prison after he pleaded guilty in January. His lawyers countered that any prison sentence would be "devastating" as it would bar him from ever entering his new home of Thailand. The sentence was confirmed by a representative for Elling's legal team, which said he is "extremely sorry" for his conduct. Purdue in 2020 pleaded guilty to charges concerning misconduct related to its marketing and sale of prescription painkillers. Prosecutors said Elling was involved in helping McKinsey land work for Purdue in 2013 that resulted in the New York-based firm crafting a strategy to boost OxyContin sales. The strategy involved targeting "high-value" prescribers in the medical field, including ones who prescribed opioids for illegitimate uses, prosecutors said. According to charging papers, Elling was among a few McKinsey partners who participated in a 2013 meeting with members of the Sackler family who owned Purdue Pharma and ultimately adopted McKinsey's proposal. In July 2018, after reading about a lawsuit Massachusetts' attorney general filed against Purdue, Elling emailed a McKinsey partner about whether "we should be doing anything other that [sic] eliminating all our documents and emails." A month later, Elling emailed himself to "delete old pur (Purdue Pharma) documents from laptop," prosecutors said. They said a forensic analysis confirmed he did just that.
