Episode 265 — The Ericsson FCPA DPA Breach Settlement
Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications company, based in Sweden, settled its breach of the 209 Deferred Prosecution Agreement, agreed to enter a guilty plea and pay a $206 million penalty. In 2019, Ericsson entered into a three-year DPA, paid a $1 billion penalty to DOJ and the SEC for FCPA violations.
DOJ notified Ericsson in 2021 that it had breached the DPA by violating the DPA’s cooperation and disclosure provisions, stemming primarily from allegations that Ericsson had failed to disclose its bribery payments to ISIS to facilitate transportation of telecommunications equipment in Iraq.
As a consequence, Ericsson will now enter a guilty plea to the two-count Information filed as part of the original DPA, which charges Ericsson with conspiracy to commit violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, and a separate conspiracy to violate the books and records and internal controls provisions of the FCPA.
In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Ericsson FCPA DPA Breach Settlement.
It seems to me that former outside counsel and the senior executives who made the decision not to disclose were engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct Justice. However I doubt DOJ would have pursued any such charges even if there weren’t a statute of limitations problem.