McKinsey & Co. to pay $650 million to settle opioid consulting probe; ex-partner to plead guilty.

• A deferred prosecution agreement was reached between McKinsey & Co. and the federal government, with the latter agreeing to pay $650 million in order to resolve a criminal investigation into the consulting firm's work with Purdue Pharma on promoting the sale of its opioid painkiller OxyContin, according to court documents.
• According to court filings, a former top partner at McKinsey pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the investigation.

A deferred prosecution agreement was reached between McKinsey & Co. and the federal government, with the latter agreeing to pay $650 million in order to resolve a criminal investigation into the consulting firm's work with Purdue Pharma, which involved advising the company on how to boost sales of its opioid painkiller OxyContin, according to a court filing made public on Friday.

In the investigation by the Department of Justice, a former top partner at McKinsey, Martin Elling, has decided to plead guilty to obstruction of justice, as stated in a filing in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia.

McKinsey is accused of conspiring with Purdue Pharma and others to misbrand prescription drugs, according to the criminal charging document that the consulting giant agreed to have filed by prosecutors.

The document alleges that McKinsey, through the actions of its former partner Elling, intentionally destroyed and concealed records and documents to hinder the investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the deferred prosecution agreement, McKinsey, which had previously agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle lawsuits related to its opioid consulting, has now accepted responsibility for the conduct alleged by federal prosecutors.

CNBC has requested comment from McKinsey.

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