South African politicians have criticized McKinsey's $122 million deal to settle a bribery scandal in the country, as reported by the Financial Times.
Earlier this month, McKinsey reached an agreement with South African and US authorities after it was found to have bribed officials at two state-owned companies in South Africa to obtain millions of dollars in consulting contracts from 2012 to 2016. Both of the involved companies nearly collapsed during that period.
"McKinsey Africa participated in a yearslong scheme to bribe government officials in South Africa and unlawfully obtained a series of highly lucrative consulting engagements that netted McKinsey Africa and its parent entity McKinsey & Company approximately $85mn in profits," Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a related press release.
McKinsey Africa entered into a three-year Delayed Prosecution Agreement with the Justice Department. As part of that agreement, McKinsey and McKinsey Africa will be required to cooperate with future investigations and enhance their compliance programs.
"It will take 20 years to repair the damage done by McKinsey to South Africa, and these consultancy firms shouldn't be allowed to buy their way out of criminal sanction with money," South African MP Glynnis Breytenbach told the FT. "This is a token payment, and not one which would strike fear into the hearts of the corrupt."
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