
Please try another search
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged a former employee of Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson (BS:ERICAs) with scheming to bribe Djibouti government officials in order to win business with a state-owned telecommunications company.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Afework Bereket, 53, a former employee of Ericsson Egypt, helped arrange $2.1 million in bribes to at least three Djibouti officials so Ericsson could win a 20.3 million euro (US$24 million) contract.
Prosecutors said the scheme ran from 2010 to January 2014, and included bribes disguised as payments to a company with which Ericsson's branch office in Ethiopia had entered a sham consulting agreement.
Bereket's indictment included an email where prosecutors said he urged that one payment be made "ASAP" because " (e)verybody in the management of [the telecommunications company] & in the ministry are waiting their part of the cake."
In December 2019, Ericsson agreed to pay about $1.06 billion, including a $521 million criminal fine, and enter a deferred prosecution agreement to settle U.S. corruption charges over its activities in Djibouti and four other countries.
Ericsson Egypt pleaded guilty at the time to a related bribery conspiracy charge.
Bereket was charged with conspiring to violate the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiring to commit money laundering, and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
He is at large, and a lawyer for him could not be located. Ericsson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(1 euro = US $1.181)
By Josh Ye and Phuong Nguyen HONG KONG/HANOI (Reuters) - TikTok has been conducting tests so users can play games on its video-sharing app in Vietnam, part of plans for a major...
By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Heavy falls in European and Asian stock markets followed Wall Street's worst day since mid-2020 on Thursday, as stark warnings from some of the...
By Tom Sims and Frank Siebelt FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Deutsche Bank begins a new epoch on Thursday as Chairman Paul Achleitner leaves after a rocky decade during which Germany's...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.