On November 10, 2025, Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (“Comcel”), currently a subsidiary of multinational telecommunications and digital services company Millicom International Cellular S.A., entered into a two-year deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations that Comcel made improper payments to Guatemalan government officials. Millicom, which was not a defendant in the matter, also signed the DPA and agreed to certain terms and obligations. According to the DPA, at the time of the relevant conduct, Comcel was a joint venture between Millicom, which owned 55%, and a “Panamanian company,” which owned 45%. Under the DPA, Comcel agreed to forfeit approximately $58.2 million, which represents the “proceeds traceable to the commission of the offense,” and to pay a $60 million fine to fully resolve the DOJ’s investigation.
As described in the DPA, from about 2012 to June 2018, Comcel engaged in a “widespread and systematic” bribery scheme, that involved, among other things, monthly cash payments to members of the Guatemalan Congress in exchange for support for legislation that benefitted Comcel. According to the DPA, the scheme was carried out by, among others, the company, the owner of the Panamanian company that had a 45% stake in Comcel, Comcel’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Head of Legal, another Comcel executive, and an executive of Millicom who served on the board of directors of Comcel.
In 2015, Millicom voluntarily and timely disclosed the misconduct to the Department of Justice. However, according to the DPA, the Panamanian company prevented Millicom from accessing critical information and prevented Millicom from requiring company personnel to cooperate in the investigation. The Fraud Section closed its investigation in 2018. In 2020, the DOJ reopened the investigation based on new evidence developed “from sources other than” Comcel and Millicom. The DOJ determined that Comcel did not, therefore, meet the requirements of voluntary self-disclosure, but it nonetheless provided a 50% reduction from the bottom of the applicable U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range for the criminal penalty. This reduction was based upon the disclosure in 2015, subsequent cooperation in the reopened investigation, and “extensive” remediation, including undertaking a root cause analysis, terminating implicated personnel, enhancing third-party onboarding and transaction monitoring, developing an ephemeral messaging policy, and launching an “extensive training campaign. The DOJ also credited Millicom for having expanded the “dedicated compliance headcount by 800%” over the last ten years.
The DPA does not require the appointment of an independent monitor. However, the Company agreed to self-monitor and make two reports to the DOJ on the status of Comcel and Millicom’s compliance program.
Millicom Press Release | Form 6-K | Deferred Prosecution Agreement | Information