With the payment of a fine of more than 200 million dollars to the American justice, the Swedish telecom giant Ericsson wants to put behind him a case of corruption linked to bribes possibly paid to the jihadist organization Islamic State in Iraq.
This arrangement to plead guilty, which results in a fine of 206.7 million dollars (195 million euros) puts an end to a transactional agreement (“Deferred prosecution agreement”, DPA) concluded in December 2019 with the United States, says Ericsson.
At the time, the group had already paid a billion dollars to American justice to end corruption proceedings in five other countries (Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait).
The agreement that has just been concluded relates to the fact that Ericsson had not provided American justice, whose universal jurisdiction in many areas allows it to prosecute a number of foreign groups, the results of an investigation report relating to alleged bribes in Iraq.
The affair broke out in February 2022 ahead of the publication of a vast press investigation coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The internal investigation mentioned in particular suspicious payments between 2011 and 2019 for road transport in areas controlled by the Islamic State organization, suspected of having ended up in the pockets of the jihadist group when it controlled part of the Iraqi territory.
“Ericsson has repeatedly failed to cooperate fully and failed to disclose evidence and allegations of misconduct in violation of the 2019 agreement,” the US justice said in a statement.
“Companies need to know that we will be looking closely at their compliance with all terms of corporate resolution agreements and that there will be serious consequences for those who fail to meet their commitments,” she added.
The agreement reassured shareholders.
Shortly before 09:00 GMT, the action of the Swedish flagship took 3.89% in a market up slightly (+0.79%) on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
“Rappel brutal”
Ericsson had already provisioned $220 million last month to anticipate this conviction.
“This resolution is a stark reminder of the historic misconduct that led to the DPA. We have learned from it and embarked on an important journey to transform our culture,” said group boss Börje Ekholm, quoted in the newspaper. press release from Ericsson.
Ericsson announced on Tuesday the departure of its head of ethics and legal compliance (“compliance”), Laurie Waddy, without citing the Iraqi file.
Mr. Ekholm had previously admitted that some of his employees may indeed have paid bribes.
Ericsson had already recognized “unacceptable behavior” and assured that he had worked hard against the risk of corruption.
This Iraqi file is also the subject of an investigation in Sweden, at a time when Ericsson is facing headwinds.
The group, which employs 105,000 people worldwide in 2022, announced last week the elimination of 8,500 jobs worldwide.
Ericsson announced disappointing annual results for the year 2022, due to the slowdown in 5G spending by operators, in the context of a slowdown in the global economy and high inflation.
The group is currently engaged in a fierce global battle with Chinese Huawei and Finnish Nokia to build 5G networks around the world, amid geopolitical tensions between the United States and China over this sensitive equipment.
The sector is one of the rare technological fields without an American heavyweight since the acquisition of Lucent by Alcatel, itself swallowed up by Nokia at the end of 2016.
With the payment of a fine of more than 200 million dollars to the American justice, the Swedish telecom giant Ericsson wants to put behind him a case of corruption linked to bribes possibly paid to the jihadist organization Islamic State in Iraq.
This arrangement to plead guilty, which results in a fine of 206.7 million dollars (195 million…