Ericsson’s internal review exposed the uncertainty inside its Iraq payments

A leaked internal investigation described suspicious payments, sham contracts, and weak controls in Ericsson’s Iraq business between 2011 and 2019. It also raised the possibility that payments connected to moving equipment through conflict areas reached ISIS.

That possibility was not equivalent to a fully traced payment chain. Ericsson acknowledged corruption-related misconduct and possible payments, while its chief executive said the final beneficiaries were sometimes unknown. The internal review itself left important questions unresolved.

ICIJ combined the documents with interviews and other records, including the experience of a subcontractor’s crew chief. The investigation’s force comes partly from the gap between maintaining a vital communications network and knowing how the money spent to keep that network operating was actually distributed.