Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson has agreed to pay the United States government more than $ 1 billion after charges of bribery in Asia and the middle East, said on Friday the U.S. Department of justice.
Egyptian branch of Ericsson pleaded guilty in Federal court in new York on charges of conspiracy to commit violations of the Law on the foreign corrupt practices of 1977, the report said.
U.S. Law allows the government to obtain fines from companies whose shares are traded on the American stock markets, or if the offence affects the territory of the country or its financial system.
Prosecutors claimed that between 2000 and 2016, Ericsson participated in the scheme payment of bribes, falsification of its books of account and records and ensure that company officials turned a blind eye to corruption.
Alleged corruption had taken place in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait.
In a statement on its website the company said it would not comment on this question, except that the figure of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, published in September, "is still its current estimate of amounts required to cover monetary sanctions" and other expenses.
According to the U.S. Department of justice, the funds should be divided between the Ministry of justice and the Commission on securities and stock exchanges.
In total, 44 countries had passed laws criminalizing the payment of bribes to foreign officials for the conduct of business, but the United States has long been the most active in punishing international corruption.
