Ericsson received money from 'Laundromat' scheme

We're talking about a huge money laundering scheme - some USD 20.8 billion - linked to Russian corruption between 2010-2014 as The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed in 2014.

Image with zoom function

According to the OCCRP, companies unknowingly took part in the scandal when they received laundered money for their goods and services. Sweden-based telecommunications company Ericsson received around EUR 1 million from Valemont Properties in February 2014; something that Ericsson has confirmed in an interview with Dagens Industri (Di). Valemont Properties, a so-called shell company, is based in the UK and is reportedly playing a central part in an investigation by authorities in Britain, Moldova, Latvia and Russia. According to the OCCRP, Valemont Properties has no business activities and is registered in the name of people who can only be described as goalkeepers. People who appear in several other investigations too, writes the newspaper. Ericsson meanwhile has confirmed that it received the money as payment for supply to a third party: "What we know at present, the payment was received in connection to one of our customer contracts. We do not know why this payment was made by a different company and not the customer, "says Johannes Persson, spokesperson for Ericsson to Di. Johannes Persson also says that with the information that now has been uncovered the company may have to review its monitoring mechanisms and procedures. Who the customer and what the contract was about has not been disclosed by Ericsson. However, he did confirm that the transaction was a down payment for an existing customer. ----- More information can be found at © OCCRP