The global consulting firm McKinsey and Company faced claims on Friday that it had failed to disclose the dual roles it was playing in three bankruptcy cases, potential violations of federal requirements meant to prevent an undisclosed conflict of interest from tainting the outcomes, the New York Times reported. In one case, the Justice Department asked a judge in Virginia to reopen the bankruptcy of Alpha Natural Resources and force McKinsey to return about $20 million in fees because, the department said, McKinsey concealed for years that it was a secured creditor of the coal company while advising it. Separately, a bankruptcy judge in Texas asked the Justice Department to look into allegations of similar activity by McKinsey in the current case of another coal company, Westmoreland Coal, and the closed case of GenOn Energy, a power company. The Office of the U.S. Trustee, a division of the Justice Department, took the unusual step of seeking to reopen the Alpha Natural Resources bankruptcy after investigating the complaint of another creditor.
