Funding ISIS terrorists in Iraq for long years; Ericsson firm will have a hard way to survive the new critical challenge. The Swedish firm evades from introducing the staff that had direct role in the case further reinforcing suspicions about the chiefs.
Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications firm, alleges that some of its workers in Iraq were involved in bribing some members of the ISIS terrorist organisation. The goal, according to the company’s CEO, was to get access to select roadways around the country.
Following the announcement, Ericsson’s shares dropped by more than 7% in early trading today in local market. “What we see is that people have paid for road transport through areas controlled by terrorist organisations, including ISIS,” the firm’s high-rank chief told reporters.
The company still claims that the final recipients of the payments remain unknown following years of investigations. Ericsson case studies the potential criminal attempt for an eight-year period ending in 2019.
Ekholm’s remarks came only hours after the corporation admitted to wrongdoings by its employees in a statement a day earlier. After 2011 and for over eight years, Ericsson workers, contractors, and suppliers in Iraq violated compliance regulations and the firm’s charter of business practices, the statement explained.
The statement also said that a 2019 probe into the issue revealed documents concerning practices amounting to corruption. “Making a monetary donation without a clear beneficiary; paying a supplier for work without a defined scope and documentation; using suppliers to make cash payments; funding inappropriate travel and expenses; and improper use of sales agents and consultants,” were some of the corruptive conducts by these employees.
It also discovered the violation of Ericsson’s financial procedures. Besides, conflicts of interest, non-compliance with tax rules, and obstruction of the inquiry were among other violations.
Ericsson Scandal; A Paper from A Book
Ericson scandal and its transactions in Iraq started in 2011, the early years of civil war and emergence of ISIS. The temporal concurrency is reminiscent of the long-time question about funders and supporters of ISIS during the years.
Payment methods and money transfers that perhaps posed the danger of money laundering were also found, according to Ericsson. Ericsson, however, claims that the inquiry could not find any Ericsson staff who closely took part in funding terrorist forces.
In the wake of investigation, some staff members departed the firm, along with multiple other punitive and other corrective procedures. The corporation published the result of the investigations only after two years. It claims that the new policy is the result of extensive enquiries from Swedish and international media organizations.
Ericsson has released the findings of its inquiry with authorities in the United States. In 2019, Ericsson committed to provide the US Department of Justice more than $1 billion to settle a different series of corruption investigations. This involved the bribery of administrative authorities in various regions like China.
The Department of Justice notified the corporation in October, 2021 that it had violated its duties under a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). It announced that Ericsson failed to provide Certain papers and factual information.
“We are under the DPA with the US authorities which limits our ability to comment on what is disclosed or not disclosed,” Ericsson responded. Ericsson further claimed that the company has little faculty and resources to complete the investigation.
Ericsson scandal might be illuminating in a wider project of tracing the terrorism funding during the 2010s. ISIS had curious gateways to receive the funds, equipment, and forces. The discovery of the gateways would be facilitating in disclosing the sources and perpetrators.
