Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson, which Washington has filed two investigations into, has announced that it has set aside about $220 million in possible fines in an Iraq corruption case involving ISIS.
Ericsson stated that it “did not reach an agreement with the US Department of Justice regarding these alleged violations, and discussions are ongoing to resolve the dispute.”
The group said in a statement: “The amount will appear in its fourth quarter accounts, which it will release at the end of the month.”
It seems that the amount allocated for these purposes in this case calmed the depositors, which negatively affected Ericsson a few months ago, since it was about 13:20. gram. The group’s shares rose on the Stockholm Stock Exchange by more than 6% to 67.66 kroons.
The issue surfaced in February 2022 following the publication of an investigative report coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
This forced Ericsson to release the results of an internal investigation conducted back in 2019 to uncover possible corruption in the group’s operations in Iraq over the past eight years.
An internal investigation cited suspicious amounts for ground transportation in areas controlled by ISIS, and it is believed that the organization benefited from these funds when it controlled part of Iraqi territory.
And in mid-April, the group deemed it “likely” that the US Department of Justice would issue new fines, given that global jurisdiction in many areas allows a number of foreign groups to be prosecuted.
In addition to the US Department of Justice, the group is also affected by an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as a Swedish judicial body.
This issue is of concern to investors as Ericsson has a history in this area.
It is worth noting that in December 2019, the group paid $1 billion to the US judiciary to stop corruption prosecutions against it in five other countries, namely Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait, as part of a settlement agreement.
Source: AFP.
