The suspicious company that the payment of bribes by some of its employees could benefit the Islamic State when the jihadist group controlled part of the country.
Le Monde with AFP
The great Swedish group Ericsson has identified facts of corruption in its activities in Iraq. The company suspects that bribes paid by employees could have been perceived by the Islamic State Organization, recognized its CEO, Börje Ekholm, Wednesday, February 16th.
During the period when the Jihadist organization controlled part of Iraq, people related to the group “paid for road transport in sectors controlled by terrorist organizations, including the EI,” said M . Ekholm. “With the means we have, we have not been able to identify the final beneficiaries of these payments,” he recognized In a Swedish daily interview Dagens Industria
These conclusions, made public as a result of ongoing journalistic surveys, including journalists in the world, appeared in a diligent internal investigation in 2019 by the global number of telecom networks as part of its anti-corruption control.
Several employees of the group landed
In a statement published on Tuesday evening, Ericsson has thus admitted “serious violations of its rules of legal compliance and the group’s business ethics” during the period 2011-2019 in Iraq. Its internal investigation identified “evidence of corruption” committed by employees, sellers and suppliers, said the group.
These facts include “silver donations without clear beneficiary; the payment of a provider for work without documentation or clear framework; the use of suppliers to make payments in cash; the unjustified financing of travel and Fresh “or” the inappropriate use of sellers and consultants “and various violations of internal rules.
Transactions have also been able to create “a potential risk of money laundering”, but “the survey could not identify the direct involvement of any Ericsson employee in the financing of terrorist organizations “, according to the group. Several employees have been fired and other disciplinary measures have been taken since this investigation, he says.
Fall on the stock market
Ericsson, who had already revealed last week being interviewed by media on facts of corruption in Iraq, saw his title plunge Wednesday on the Stockholm Stock Exchange following these new elements. Around 10 hours (Paris time), the title fell by nearly 8.7%.
The group is already in the viewfinder of American justice for facts of corruption in other countries. Elements on the Iraqi component have been transmitted to American justice, Ekholm said in his interview.