Mobile phone mast against the sky, illustrating telecom infrastructure — Illustrative image. Photo: Santeri Viinamäki, CC BY-SA 4.0

Market Entry Package: One Telecom Market, Consulting Fees Extra

At least $330 million in illicit payments, billed as lobbying and consulting. SEC findings, settled.

Sold2007–2010International

at least $330M≈ €295MAs stated in the source: at least $330 million in illicit payments

Already sold, to Telia Company AB, in 2007–2010. Nothing on Lobay is for sale.

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Seller

Role: Uzbek government official and family member of the then President of Uzbekistan, with significant influence over other officials ('Government Official A' in the SEC order)
Country: Uzbekistan

Item specifics

Condition	Final. SEC administrative sanction on settlement, 21 Sept 2017
Location	Uzbekistan
Seller	Government official, family member of the then President (unnamed in the SEC order)
Winning bidder	Telia Company AB (Sweden)
Category	Telecom
Sold	2007 to at least 2010
Payment method	Sham lobbying and consulting services paid to a front company
Returns	No returns. Disgorgement ordered: $457,000,000 (SEC, 2017)

Description

What the bribe bought

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the conduct brought Telia Company AB profits of $457,000,000, which the SEC ordered disgorged. The bribes were meant to open the Uzbek telecom market to the company.

Return on bribe: Every $1 of bribes earned about $1.38.Rough figure: the bribe is stated as “at least”, the gain as “exact”.

What happened

From 2007 to at least 2010, Telia paid bribes to a government official in Uzbekistan, according to SEC findings. The official was a family member of the then President. The money went through sham lobbying and consulting services to a front company the official controlled. The payments were made to enable Telia to acquire a US-based telecommunications company with operations in Uzbekistan and enter the market. On 21 September 2017 the SEC accepted Telia's offer of settlement and issued a cease-and-desist order with findings.