BCG says staff dodged risk controls in performing Gaza work

Boston Consulting Group said its US-based staff circumvented internal risk controls to do work related to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and post-war reconstruction, according to a response to a UK parliamentary inquiry published on Thursday.

BCG hired law firm WilmerHale to conduct a a now mostly completed review, which found that BCG approval processes were circumvented by two US-based employees who were fired in June.

Matt Schlueter and Ryan Ordway, partners in the firm’s public sector defense and security practice, in late 2024 led a team that provided pro bono support to stand up the GHF, a controversial US- and Israel-backed humanitarian aid organization.

The United Nations and other humanitarian groups have refused to work with the GHF, arguing that the charity lacks neutrality and is militarizing aid to force displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Since the launch of the program in May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed near GHF aid distribution sites, according to Palestinian health authorities.

BCG said the information the partners provided in relation to establishment of the GHF was “incomplete, inaccurate and/or untruthful.”

The Financial Times earlier this month reported that BCG developed a cost model for the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. The scandal led to BCG’s risk leader and social impact leader stepping down from their roles.

BCG said one of its since-fired employees in March started a second, for-fee project on “the operational and logistical effort to deliver aid” in a contract with McNally Capital, a US private equity firm.

BCG said it cancelled the project invoice when it learned the nature of the work, and the firm’s risk officer told the employee not to engage in such a project. The employee went on to start a team to model postwar reconstruction scenarios, the firm told the UK parliament, but he did not enter a contract with a counterparty for the work.

BCG said it will not be publishing the full results of WilmerHale’s investigation.