Ericsson settles corruption case with US authorities for 1 billion dollars

Ericsson has reached an agreement with US authorities in a corruption case. The settlement will cost the company more than a billion dollars for network equipment. It concerns a case in which Ericsson paid bribes and forged documents for years.

The agreement with US authorities has been posted on the Department of Justice’s website. The Egyptian branch of Ericsson has pleaded guilty, although the violations have taken place in other countries: Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait. According to the US authorities, Ericsson started the practices around 2000 and would have lasted until 2016.

In those countries, Ericsson has paid out tens of millions of dollars over the years, and the company has tried to keep this off the books by adjusting financial documents. Also, the US authorities are not satisfied with Ericsson’s cooperation during the investigation; if they had cooperated better, the fine could have been lower.

With bribery and document falsification, Ericsson has violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. As a result, the company, with its headquarters in Stockholm, has to pay a fine that adds up to more than a billion dollars. Also, the network equipment maker has agreed to intensive monitoring of its practices in the coming years, and internal controls are being improved. It also participates in follow-up studies that result from this.