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Ericsson to Pay $206 Mln over Corruption Case in Iraq

Ericsson company's head office in Stockholm, Sweden - Reuters
Ericsson company's head office in Stockholm, Sweden - Reuters
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Ericsson to Pay $206 Mln over Corruption Case in Iraq

Ericsson company's head office in Stockholm, Sweden - Reuters
Ericsson company's head office in Stockholm, Sweden - Reuters

Sweden's Ericsson (ERICb.ST) agreed to pay a $206 million fine and plead guilty after violating a 2019 deal with US prosecutors that required the telecoms firm to properly disclose information on its activities in Iraq, China and Djibouti.

The plea agreement with the US Justice Department follows a scandal over possible payments made to ISIS militant group through its activities in Iraq.

The Justice Department said in a statement the telecommunications firm fell short in disclosing activities after entering a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in 2019 to resolve a probe into years of alleged corruption in China, Vietnam and Djibouti.

Under the DPA, the Justice Department had agreed to hold off prosecuting Ericsson for three years if it paid a steep penalty, implemented "rigorous internal controls", complied with US laws and cooperated fully on any ongoing investigations.

"Ericsson breached the DPA by violating the agreement's cooperation and disclosure provisions," the Justice Department said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The company will be required to serve a probation term through June 2024, and agreed to a one-year extension of an independent compliance monitor, the department added.

Ericsson previously paid a total criminal penalty of more than $520 million and agreed to the imposition of an independent compliance monitor for three years, the Justice Department said on Thursday, referring to the 2019 settlement.

"This resolution is a stark reminder of the historical misconduct that led to the DPA. We have learned from that and we are on an important journey to transform our culture," Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm said in a statement.

Ericsson last year disclosed that a 2019 internal probe had identified payments designed to circumvent Iraqi customs at a time when militant organizations, including ISIS, controlled some routes.

The internal probe did not conclude the firm made or was responsible for any payments to any terrorist organization, and the firm continues to probe the matter "in full cooperation with the DOJ and the US Securities and Exchange Commission," Ericsson said.

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UN Agency Closes the Rest of Its Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle under Israeli Blockade

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
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UN Agency Closes the Rest of Its Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle under Israeli Blockade

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)

The UN food agency is closing all of its bakeries in the Gaza Strip, officials said Tuesday, as food supplies dwindle after Israel sealed the territory off from all imports nearly a month ago.

Israel, which tightened its blockade and later resumed its offensive in order to pressure Hamas into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said that enough food entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory's roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Markets largely emptied weeks ago, and UN. agencies say the supplies they built up during the truce are running out. Gaza is heavily reliant on international aid, because the war has destroyed almost all of its food production capability.

Mohammed al-Kurd, a father of 12, said that his children go to bed without dinner.

“We tell them to be patient and that we will bring flour in the morning,” he said. “We lie to them and to ourselves.”

A World Food Program memo circulated to aid groups on Monday said that it could no longer operate its remaining bakeries, which produce the pita bread on which many rely. The UN agency said that it was prioritizing its remaining stocks to provide emergency food aid and expand hot meal distribution. WFP spokespeople didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that the WFP was closing its remaining 19 bakeries after shuttering six others last month. She said that hundreds of thousands of people relied on them.

The Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian affairs, known as COGAT, said that more than 25,000 trucks entered Gaza during the ceasefire, carrying nearly 450,000 tons of aid. It said that amount represented around a third of what has entered during the entire war.

“There is enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it,” it said.

UN agencies and aid groups say that they struggled to bring in and distribute aid before the ceasefire took hold in January. Their estimates for how much aid actually reached people in Gaza were consistently lower than COGAT’s, which were based on how much entered through border crossings.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Hamas is still holding 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since the ceasefire ended, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't say whether those killed in the war are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel sealed off Gaza from all aid at the start of the war, but later relented under pressure from Washington. US President Donald Trump's administration, which took credit for helping to broker the ceasefire, has expressed full support for Israel's actions, including its decision to end the truce.

Israel has demanded that Hamas release several hostages before commencing talks on ending the war, negotiations that were supposed to have begun in early February. It has also insisted that Hamas disarm and leave Gaza, conditions that weren't part of the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas has called for implementing the agreement, in which the remaining hostages would be released in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout.