Ericsson Agrees To Pay More Than $1 Bln To Settle U.S. Corruption Probe

(RTTNews) - Sweden's telecoms giant Ericsson agreed to pay penalties of more than $1 billion to settle the U.S. government's investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act arising out of the company's scheme to make and improperly record tens of millions of dollars in improper payments around the world.

Ericsson Egypt pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Ericsson must retain an independent compliance monitor for at least three years.

The settlement included a criminal penalty of over $520 million and about $540 million to be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a related matter.

The SEC's complaint alleged that from 2011 through 2017, Ericsson subsidiaries obtained business valued at about $427 million by using third parties to bribe officials in Saudi Arabia, China, and Djibouti.

The complaint also alleged that Ericsson's subsidiaries further violated the U.S. corruption Act in Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait, by maintaining slush funds, using code names, and creating sham transactions and invoices.

In September, Ericsson said it had put aside $1.2 billion to cover possible penalties stemming from the U.S. investigation.