An internal investigation of the company had mentioned payments between 2011 and 2019 for road transport in areas controlled by the Islamic State organization, payments suspected of having finished in the pockets of the jihadist group.
MO12345LEMONDE WITH AFP
With the settlement of a fine of more than $ 200 million to American justice, the Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson wants to put behind a case of corruption linked to bribes possibly paid to the organization Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.
This arrangement of plead -guilty, which leads to a fine of $ 206.7 million (195 million euros), put an end to a transactional agreement – Deferred Prosecution Agrement, or DPA – concluded in December 2019 with the United States, specifies Ericsson. The group had already paid a billion dollars at the time of US justice to put an end to corruption prosecution in five other countries (Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait).
“bad Historical driving “
The agreement which has just been concluded relates to the fact that Ericsson had not provided to American justice, whose universal competence in many areas allows him to prosecute foreign groups, the results of ‘An internal investigation relating to alleged bribes in Iraq. The case had broken out in February 2022 upstream of the publication of a vast press investigation coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The internal survey notably mentioned payments between 2011 and 2019 for road transport in areas controlled by IS, payments suspected of having finished in the pockets of the jihadist group. This file is also the subject of an investigation in Sweden.
Judicial resolution in the United States “is a brutal reminder of the historical bad conduct that led to DPA. We learned the lessons and we are engaged in an important journey to transform our culture,” said the boss of the group, Börje Ekholm, quoted in the statement of Ericsson. The group announced Tuesday the departure of its manager of ethics and legal compliance, Laurie Waddy, without quoting the Iraqi file.
m. Ekholm had previously admitted that some of its employees could actually have poured bribes. Ericsson had already recognized “unacceptable behavior” and assured that she had put the double bites against the risk of corruption.