On May 19, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved an approximately $20 million settlement of a securities class action brought by lead plaintiff Boris Lvov against global telecommunications company VEON, Ltd. (formerly known as VimpelCom Ltd.) to resolve allegations that VEON made materially false and misleading statements to investors. In 2016, VEON (then VimpelCom) settled parallel Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, ultimately acknowledging it had conspired to violate the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. The class plaintiffs, who were purchasers of VimpelCom American Depositary Shares between June 30, 2011, and November 3, 2015, claimed that the company’s false statements included assurances to investors that it had effective internal controls and that its Uzbek business success was due to legitimate business acumen. The plaintiffs said the company’s admissions in the DPA, including admitting to participating in a scheme to pay $114 million in bribes to a foreign official to secure and retain market access in Uzbekistan, demonstrated these statements were false. The court found the class action settlement to be “fair, reasonable and adequate,” dismissed all claims with prejudice, and approved the Plan of Allocation for distribution of the Net Settlement Fund. The settlement contained no admission of wrongdoing by VEON.
In February 2016, VimpelCom and its Uzbek subsidiary, Unitel LLC, reached a global resolution in which they agreed to pay a combined total of more than $795 million to U.S. and Dutch enforcement authorities after admitting that various company executives and employees facilitated the payment of bribes to an Uzbek government official who was a close relative of a high-ranking government official and had influence in Uzbekistan’s telecom industry. Unitel also pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging it with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.
Under the terms of the DPA, VimpelCom was required, among other things, to retain an independent compliance monitor and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program designed to prevent and detect the identified FCPA violations. On October 31, 2019, VEON announced that the monitor had certified the company’s compliance program, and the DOJ and SEC agreed that VEON had successfully completed the monitorship term, which led the DOJ to file a motion to dismiss the deferred charges.
Judgment Approving Class Action Settlement | Order Awarding Attorneys’ Fees | DOJ Press Release – February 2016 | DPA