Ericsson lands in hot middle eastern water

MOBILE NETWORK Goliath Ericsson allegedly forked out over a million dollars to a former Oman government minister, it was reported by Swedish public radio.

The company supposedly greased the palm of a former telecommunications minister of Oman Ahmed Suwaidan Al Balushi, with 1.3 million euros in the late 90s. It is said that the money could be "compensation" for a 300 million kronor contract with the country.

Oerjan Berner of anti-corruption group Transparency International told the Swedish radio station that the cash appeared to be a bribe, saying, "This seems very strange... That the company paid some government minister through an agent probably means in this case that it was a bribe."

Bank documents and memos of the transaction have been stuck up on the radio station's website, which appeared publicly after a tax probe on the company. The documents show Al Balushi being the owner of the bank account money was paid into.

According to CNN, a Swedish prosecutor who investigated Ericsson's use of Swiss bank accounts in the '90s said he found no evidence to support the allegation of bribery.

As yet, the company has not commented on the matter. µ