STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Ericsson has been informed that disclosures it made to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) about an internal investigation into conduct in Iraq were insufficient, the company said on Wednesday.
At this stage it is premature to predict the outcome of this matter, Ericsson said in a statement.
In 2019, Ericsson signed a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the DoJ, paid more than $1 billion to resolve a different series of probes into corruption, and agreed to cooperate with the department for ongoing investigations.
Last month the company disclosed that an internal investigation in 2019 had found serious breaches of its compliance rules in Iraq, including evidence of corruption-related misconduct and improper use of sales agents and consultants.
While the company did not comment on whether the DoJ was informed about the investigation, people familiar with the matter told Reuters that the DoJ was aware of the investigation.
The DoJ has now determined that Ericsson breached the DPA by failing to make disclosures related to the investigation subsequent to signing the DPA on Dec. 6, 2019.
Ericsson said it was in communication with the DOJ regarding the facts and circumstances of the breach determination.
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, European Technology & Telecoms Correspondent, based in Stockholm; editing by Jason Neely)
