McKinsey & Company agrees to pay $650 million to settle federal criminal and civil investigations into its role in helping Purdue Pharma ’turbocharge’ sales of OxyContin, the highly addictive opioid painkiller at the center of America’s overdose epidemic. This marks the first …
McKinsey & CompanyU.S. Department of JusticePurdue PharmaMartin EllingFood and Drug Administration (FDA)mckinseyopioid-crisispurdue-pharmaconsulting-scandalcorporate-crime+4 more
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) claws back R1.1 billion (approximately $73 million) from McKinsey & Company and its subsidiary McKinsey South Africa through a Corporate Alternative Dispute Resolution process, representing a final settlement of the state capture scandal. …
McKinsey & CompanySouth Africa National Prosecuting AuthorityU.S. Department of JusticeMcKinsey South AfricaEskom+1 moremckinseysouth-africastate-capturecorruptionsettlement+3 more
McKinsey Africa enters into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay more than $122 million (approximately R2.2 billion) to resolve criminal charges for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The …
McKinsey AfricaU.S. Department of JusticeVikas SagarSouth African National Prosecuting AuthorityTransnet+1 moremckinseysouth-africastate-capturebriberycorruption+5 more
A federal jury convicts Sam Bankman-Fried on all seven criminal counts including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in what federal prosecutors describe as ‘one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.’ The conviction follows a …
Sam Bankman-FriedFTXAlameda ResearchU.S. Department of JusticeCaroline Ellison+1 morecorruptionfraudregulatory-capturetechcryptocurrency+3 more
On May 30, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon’s December 2021 ruling, holding that bankruptcy courts do have authority to approve non-consensual third-party releases. The divided 2-1 decision reinstated the Purdue Pharma …
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitSackler FamilyPurdue PharmaU.S. Department of Justiceopioid-crisisbankruptcy-lawappeals-processaccountability-failurejudicial-disagreement
Sam Bankman-Fried is arrested in the Bahamas at the request of U.S. prosecutors and charged with eight criminal counts including wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance law violations. The indictment alleges Bankman-Fried orchestrated a scheme to …
Sam Bankman-FriedFTXU.S. Department of JusticeSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)CFTC+1 morecorruptionfraudregulatory-capturetechcryptocurrency+3 more
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila sentences Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes to 135 months (11 years, 3 months) in federal prison plus three years supervised release for defrauding investors of over $140 million. Holmes is ordered to surrender on April 27, 2023 to begin serving her sentence. …
Elizabeth HolmesEdward DavilaU.S. Department of JusticeTheranosFDA+1 morecorruptionfraudregulatory-capturetechhealthcare+3 more
A federal jury convicts Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on one count of conspiracy to commit investor fraud and three counts of wire fraud involving over $140 million in investments. The conviction follows a nearly four-month trial where prosecutors presented testimony from 29 witnesses …
Elizabeth HolmesTheranosU.S. Department of JusticeSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)FDAcorruptionfraudregulatory-capturetechhealthcare+3 more
On December 16, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon overturned the controversial bankruptcy settlement that would have granted the Sackler family immunity from opioid-related lawsuits in exchange for $4.5 billion. Judge McMahon ruled that bankruptcy courts do not have the authority to …
Colleen McMahonSackler FamilyPurdue PharmaU.S. Department of Justiceopioid-crisisbankruptcy-lawjudicial-oversightaccountabilitylegal-precedent
On September 1, 2021, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain approved a bankruptcy settlement granting the Sackler family “global peace” from civil liability for the opioid epidemic, despite vigorous opposition from the Department of Justice and nine state attorneys general. The ruling …
Robert DrainSackler FamilyPurdue PharmaU.S. Department of JusticeState Attorneys Generalopioid-crisisbankruptcy-abusejudicial-failureaccountability-failurecorporate-impunity
On October 21, 2020, the Department of Justice announced a settlement totaling more than $8 billion with Purdue Pharma—touted as the largest penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical manufacturer—yet the settlement allowed the Sackler family to keep the vast majority of billions extracted from …
U.S. Department of JusticePurdue PharmaSackler FamilyRichard SacklerDavid Sackler+4 moreopioid-crisiscorporate-crimeaccountability-failuredeferred-prosecutionwealth-extraction
In June 2020, NPR analysis revealed that the federal government had awarded over 250 COVID-19 related contracts worth more than $1 million each without full competitive bidding, totaling billions of dollars in federal spending. Many contracts went to companies with no experience in medical …
Trump AdministrationFEMAU.S. Department of JusticeCongressional Oversightcovid-19corruptionprice-gouginghealthcareregulatory-capture+1 more
On August 13, 2019, just days before his death, Jeffrey Epstein sent a letter to Larry Nassar from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York—a communication discovered returned to sender in the jail’s mail room weeks after Epstein’s suicide. The letter, which was submitted to the …
Jeffrey EpsteinLarry NassarFederal Bureau of InvestigationU.S. Department of JusticeMetropolitan Correctional Centerepsteininstitutional-abusesex-traffickinggymnasticsfbi-failure+2 more
The United States Department of Justice and attorneys general from 38 states and the District of Columbia reached a landmark $95.5 million settlement with Education Management Corporation (EDMC) on November 16, 2015, resolving allegations that the nation’s second-largest for-profit education …
The Department of Justice charged 11 individuals on June 27, 2010, for acting as unregistered agents of the Russian Federation. Ten pleaded guilty on July 8, 2010, and were exchanged in a U.S.–Russia spy swap. The case, known as “Operation Ghost Stories,” involved covert communications …
Anna ChapmanU.S. Department of JusticeFBIrussian-spy-ringintelligence-operationsespionage
The University of Phoenix and its parent company Apollo Group agreed to pay $78.5 million on December 14, 2009, to resolve allegations that the nation’s largest for-profit university violated the False Claims Act by illegally paying recruiters based on the number of students they enrolled, …
University of PhoenixApollo GroupMary HendowJulie AlbertsonU.S. Department of Justice+1 morefor-profit-educationfraudfalse-claims-actstudent-loanswhistleblower+3 more
On May 10, 2007, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to a felony charge of illegally misbranding OxyContin in an effort to mislead and defraud physicians and agreed to pay $600 million—representing approximately 90 percent of OxyContin profits during the offense period. The company admitted to misleading …
Purdue PharmaMichael FriedmanHoward R. UdellPaul D. GoldenheimU.S. Department of Justiceopioid-crisiscorporate-crimeaccountability-failuredeferred-prosecutionregulatory-capture+1 more
The U.S. Department of Justice reaches a settlement with Microsoft on November 1, 2001, abandoning the structural breakup remedy ordered by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in favor of behavioral restrictions. The Bush administration DOJ, after taking office in January 2001, announces on September 6, …
U.S. Department of JusticeMicrosoft CorporationGeorge W. BushJohn AshcroftBill Gates+1 moreantitrusttech-monopolyregulatory-captureenforcement-failurecorporate-power+2 more
The U.S. Department of Justice, joined by Attorneys General from 20 states and the District of Columbia, files antitrust charges against Microsoft on May 18, 1998, alleging the company violated the Sherman Act by using its operating system dominance to thwart competition. The complaint charges four …
U.S. Department of JusticeMicrosoft CorporationBill GatesJoel KleinJanet Reno+1 moreantitrusttech-monopolyregulatory-capturecorporate-powerenforcement-failure+1 more
The U.S. Department of Justice began a series of raids on November 7—a date selected to coincide with the anniversary of the Russian Revolution—to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchists and communists, and deport them from the United States. The Russian Revolution in 1917 and …
A. Mitchell PalmerJ. Edgar HooverU.S. Department of JusticeEmma GoldmanAlexander Berkman+1 morered-scarestate-repressionlabor-suppressionfbideportations
When Theodore Roosevelt left office on March 4, 1909, his administration had filed 44 antitrust lawsuits (18 civil and 26 criminal cases, resulting in 22 convictions and 22 acquittals) against major corporations including Northern Securities, Standard Oil, American Tobacco, the Beef Trust, and Du …
Theodore RooseveltWilliam Howard TaftJ.P. MorganU.S. Department of JusticeInterstate Commerce Commissionantitrustcorporate-powerprogressive-eraregulatory-enforcementpresidential-legacy
On July 19, 1907, the Roosevelt administration’s Department of Justice filed a major antitrust petition against the American Tobacco Company after one of its subsidiaries was indicted for price-fixing in the Southern District of New York. The suit charged sixty-five companies and twenty-nine …
Theodore RooseveltU.S. Department of JusticeAmerican Tobacco CompanyJames Buchanan Dukeantitrustcorporate-powerregulatory-enforcementprogressive-eramonopoly