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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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Gaza Civil Defense Describes Medic Killings as 'Summary Executions'

A video recovered from the phone of one of the slain aid workers, released by the Red Crescent, appeared to contradict the Israeli military's account - AFP
A video recovered from the phone of one of the slain aid workers, released by the Red Crescent, appeared to contradict the Israeli military's account - AFP
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Gaza Civil Defense Describes Medic Killings as 'Summary Executions'

A video recovered from the phone of one of the slain aid workers, released by the Red Crescent, appeared to contradict the Israeli military's account - AFP
A video recovered from the phone of one of the slain aid workers, released by the Red Crescent, appeared to contradict the Israeli military's account - AFP

Gaza's civil defense agency on Monday accused the Israeli military of carrying out "summary executions" in the killing of 15 rescue workers last month, rejecting the findings of an internal probe by the army.

The medics and other rescue workers were killed when responding to distress calls near Gaza's southern city of Rafah early on March 23, days into Israel's renewed offensive in the Hamas-run territory, AFP reported.

Among those killed were eight Red Crescent staff members, six from the Gaza civil defense rescue agency and one employee of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA and Palestinian rescuers.

"The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions," Mohammed Al-Mughair, a civil defense official, told AFP, accusing Israel of seeking to "circumvent" its obligations under international law.

Following the shooting, the Red Crescent released a video recovered from the phone of one of the victims. It does not show executions, but it does directly contradict the version of events initially put forward by the Israeli military.

In particular, the video shows clearly that the ambulances were travelling with sirens, flashing lights and headlights on. The military had claimed the ambulances were travelling "suspiciously" and without lights.

- Operational failures -

The incident drew international condemnation, including concern about possible war crimes from UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk.

An Israeli military investigation into the incident released on Sunday "found no evidence to support claims of execution" or "indiscriminate fire" by its troops, but admitted to operational failures and said it was firing a field commander.

It said six of those killed were militants, revising an earlier claim that nine of the men were fighters.

The dead, who were buried in sand by Israeli forces, were only recovered several days after the attack from what the UN human rights agency OCHA described as a "mass grave".

The Palestine Red Crescent Society denounced the report as "full of lies".

"It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different," Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Red Crescent, told AFP.

The Israeli investigation said there were three shooting incidents in the area on that day.

In the first, soldiers shot at what they believed to be a Hamas vehicle.

In the second, around an hour later, troops fired "on suspects emerging from a fire truck and ambulances", the military said.

The probe determined that the fire in the first two incidents resulted from an "operational misunderstanding by the troops".

In the third incident, the troops fired at a UN vehicle "due to operational errors in breach of regulations", the military said.