Sweden drops investigation into suspected Ericsson bribery in China

The Swedish Prosecution Authority on Monday said it had closed an investigation into suspected bribery payments made in China by employees at telecoms equipment maker Ericsson because there was no evidence a crime had been committed. Ericsson declined to comment on the case.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority on Monday said it had closed an investigation into suspected bribery payments made in China by employees at telecoms equipment maker Ericsson because there was no evidence a crime had been committed.

Ericsson declined to comment on the case. The Swedish company has previously admitted to engaging in bribery in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait from 2000 to 2016 in a $1 billion corruption settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.

Swedish prosecutors have since then looked into whether any Ericsson staff could be charged in Sweden with bribery in Djibouti, Kuwait, Iraq and China. They have previously dropped the investigations related to Kuwait and Iraq. Prosecutors have appealed a decision by a Swedish court this year to acquit former Ericsson executives of charges of bribery in Djibouti.

"This is the China part of the investigations. I have now closed the Kuwait, Iraq and China investigations," Prosecutor Leif Gorts said. In a statement on Monday, the prosecution authority said: "While payments ammounting to several hundred million Swedish crowns, corresponding to tens of millions of dollars, were made over a period leading up to 2016, it was not clear that these were made in bad faith."