The Stockholm District Court has acquitted three former executives of Swedish telecommunications company Telia Company AB, on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove that the recipient of alleged bribe payments was a public official. The court also dismissed a confiscation claim of $208,500,000 against the company. In statements commenting on the court ruling and settlement, the company explained that it had cooperated with US and Dutch authorities in their bribery investigations between 2014 and 2017, which focused on purported payments to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbek president Islam Karimov, through a Gibraltar shell company. Telia reached a global settlement in 2017, accepting responsibility for the improper payments, and agreeing to pay USD 965 million in disgorgement and fines.
Telia press release | Stockholm District Court press release (1) | Telia press release (Sept 2017)