A former Ericsson employee allegedly employed “financial sleight-of-hand involving a sham consulting contract, a false due-diligence report, and fake invoices” to conceal a bribe to Djiboutian government officials. The DOJ broke with previous practices in indicting him personally.
In a surprising (but fully warranted) twist, the Justice Department returned an indictment on September 8 against a former employee of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (“Ericsson”), a global telecommunications company, for his role in paying approximately $2.1 million in bribes to high-level government officials in the Republic of Djibouti.
Access the indictment here (PDF download).
Afework “Affe” Bereket, 53, a dual citizen of Ethiopia and Sweden, was charged in a two-count indictment – Count 1 for FCPA Conspiracy; and Count 2 for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering Violations. Bereket has not been apprehended.
“As alleged, Afework Bereket conspired in a corrupt scheme to pay millions of dollars in bribes to two Djibouti government officials and an official of a state-owned telecom company to win a contract for Ericsson valued at more than €20 million,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss said in a statement. “To disguise the scheme, Bereket allegedly engaged in financial…
