Sweden-based telecom multinational Ericsson has agreed to pay penalties of more than $1 billion to resolve the government’s investigation into violations of the FCPA arising out of the company’s scheme to make and improperly record tens of millions of dollars in improper payments around the world. This includes a criminal penalty of over $520 million and approximately $540 million to be paid to the SEC in a related matter. An Ericsson Egypt subsidiary also pleaded guilty to the scheme.
According to DOJ, from 2000 to 2016, Ericsson engaged in a scheme to pay bribes and falsify books and records, and failed to implement reasonable internal accounting controls. It used third parties to bribe government officials and/or to manage off-the-books slush funds, often through sham contracts and paid pursuant to false invoices, and improperly accounted for.