Ericsson withdraws from anti-corruption supervision in the United States

Due to the US government, Ericsson has been under compliance supervision for the past four years. He discovered the company's corrupt practices in several countries

The US government's anti-corruption supervision of Ericsson ended on June 2 after four years of compliance supervision by Swedish companies.

Ericsson announced on Monday that the anti-corruption compliance plan submitted by the US Department of Justice is scheduled to end on Sunday Since June 2020, this telecommunications manufacturer has been under the supervision of the department as it has discovered corrupt practices in several countries around the world "According to court documents, from 2000 to 2016, Ericsson used external agents and consultants to bribe government officials and manage bribery funds that were not registered in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Kuwait." The Ministry of Justice explained a year ago, "These agents are often hired through false contracts and paid to them based on false invoices, and their payments are erroneously recorded in Ericsson's books and records."

Emphasis:Ericsson's management has been sued by US shareholders

In 2019, this Swedish company admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes and falsifying records between 2000 and 2016, and agreed to pay fines exceeding $1 billion In addition, Ericsson must undergo a compliance program in 2020, which is supervised by the Ministry of Justice and requires Ericsson to report any violations and cooperate with ongoing investigations However, in addition to discovering bribery and other violations in several countries, news reports also pointed out that Ericsson has made suspicious payments of millions of dollars multiple times in Iraq to maintain its business A survey by the International Commission of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published in 2022 showed that Ericsson bribed the terrorist organization ISIS to smuggle equipment in an area known as a highway ICIJ's investigation shows that this Swedish company has violated agreements with the Ministry of Justice at least twice, which does not include Iraq itself We suggest that Ericsson will pay fines to the United States. In the case of payment to the Islamic State of Iraq, the department even imposed a new fine of $206 million on Ericsson in March 2023, accusing it of violating the 2019 Delayed Prosecution Agreement, as it did not cooperate fully with investigators, provide evidence, or charge misconduct This Swedish company now guarantees that it has committed to implementing compliance plans to address violations in accordance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The company said, "The non criminal DPA plea agreement reached with the Ministry of Justice in March 2023 also expired on June 2." In addition, Ericsson emphasizes that the independent compliance monitoring body has proven that the company "has met the requirements and is operating effectively" Ericsson President and CEO B ö rje Ekholm assured us that "this is an important milestone in our journey to improve our organization," and stated that the Swedish manufacturer stated, "Our commitment to integrity is firm, and we do not tolerate corruption, fraud, or other misconduct."