Ericsson to pay $1bn to settle US corruption probe

Bloomberg

A unit of Ericsson AB pleaded guilty to foreign bribery and the parent company agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve a long-running US corruption investigation involving payoffs in Asia and the Middle East.
The Stockholm-based company admitted to a years-long campaign of corruption aimed at solidifying its grip on the telecommunications business, US Attorney Geoffrey S Berman in Manhattan said in announcing the settlement that outlined tens of millions of dollars in illicit payments in five countries.
“Through slush funds, bribes, gifts and graft, Ericsson conducted telecommunications business with the guiding principle that ‘money talks,’” Berman said in a written statement announcing the settlement.

Criminal Penalty
From 2000 to 2016, Ericsson conspired with others to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, paying bribes, falsifying books and records and failing to implement reasonable internal accounting controls, the Justice Department said. The company bribed government officials through third-party agents and consultants, it said.
The settlement includes a $520 million criminal penalty imposed by the US Justice Department and a civil payment of about $540 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of a deferred-prosecution deal, an Egyptian subsidiary of the company pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

‘Unacceptable Behavior’
“This is a reflection of some hugely embarrassing and unacceptable behavior in the past, and of course that is something we as a company are ashamed of and I personally am ashamed of,” Ericsson’s Chief Executive Officer Borje Ekholm said in a phone interview. “But the settlement also allows us to put an end to a very long and wide-ranging process so now we can move forward and build a much stronger company for the future.”