\tEricsson agreed to pay a total of $1.06 billion to the US government to settle ongoing corruption investigations, after admitting to shelling out millions in bribes and falsifying its books between 2000 and 2016.<\/p>\n
In a press release, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said Ericsson acknowledged paying bribes, falsifying records and failing to implement reasonable accounting controls as part of a corruption campaign which spanned 17 years and at least five countries including Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait.<\/p>\n
Bribes and other payments were paid as part of an effort to win contracts with government and state-owned entities. Millions were also paid to consultants in at least two countries to create off-the-books slush funds.<\/p>\n
As part of the settlement deal, the vendor agreed to pay a $520 million criminal penalty, as well as $540 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a related matter. It also agreed to three years of independent compliance monitoring.<\/p>\n
Additionally, an Ericsson subsidiary, Ericsson Egypt Ltd, pleaded guilty in US District Court to a charge of\u00a0 conspiracy to violate anti-bribery laws.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, DoJ will defer prosecution and dismiss charges against the vendor at the end of three years if Ericsson submits to third-party oversight, enhances compliance controls and cooperates with other ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n
Ericsson CEO B\u00f6rje Ekholm said in a statement he was \u201cupset\u201d by the company\u2019s past failings, but added \u201creaching a resolution with the US authorities allows us to close this legacy chapter. We can now move forward and build a stronger company.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted the company implemented a \u201crobust compliance program\u201d since the issues came to light, allocating additional resources to compliance and investigations; reorganising its process for assessing allegations of misconduct; enhancing monitoring of third-party engagements; and introducing analytic tools to better identify and prevent high-risk transactions.<\/p>\n
The company previously set aside SEK12 billion ($1.26 billion) [1] to cover expected penalties and costs related to the probes.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/ericsson-stands-by-us-corruption-fine-estimate\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ericsson agreed to pay a total of $1.06 billion to the US government to settle …<\/p>\n
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