Just a quick one - I was thrilled over the holiday to buy a copy in my local supermarket of The International Herald Tribune [22nd November Edition] and find a story on the recent Ericsson alleged bribe that actually named the Ex-Minister of Telecommunication as Ahmed Suwaidan al Balushi.
I wonder if it got through:
A)Because it was buried in the middle of the paper
B)Because it wasn't printed across a picture of a bare-chested or bikini-clad woman
C)Because the Omani Gov. doesn't care about such reports being available
Obviously I've yet to read anything about it in an Omani paper. But, no surprise there.
Perhaps the plan is to simply ignore it, knowing most Omanis don't know about it, or don't care about it, and let it fade away. (I'm pretty sure they don't sell a lot of International Herald Tribunes in Nizwa.)
Unfortunately its a plan that will probably work.
Showing posts with label bribe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bribe. Show all posts
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Ericsson accused of bribing ex-Omani Minister
Omantel really in the news this week!
That Ericsson was accused by a Swedish Journalist of paying about 2mln into the Swiss bank account of an agent for the ex-minister of Telecommunications in the late 90s hit the wire last week, but the ex-Minister was never named. That changed today.
It seems Swedish Radio has published documents listing the account's beneficiary as Ahmed Suwaidan Al Balushi, ex Minister rsponsible for telecom at the time and until 2000. Presumeably the same person who was also chairman of Oman's Alliance Housing Bank, until he was replaced at EGM July 2007.
While the investigator on whose work the story is based has said he has no evidence that the claim is true, readers should note that because he wouldn't have such evidence as he was looking at the system, not specific payments, and he hasn't said its not true.
A google search will get all the messy details.
STOCKHOLM, Nov 21, 2007 (AFP) - Ericsson AB, the world's leading mobile networks maker, allegedly paid more than a million dollars (euros) to a former Oman government minister in what appears to have been a bribe for a large contract, Swedish public radio reported Wednesday.
Ericsson paid 12 million kronor (1.3 million euros, 1.9 million dollars) into the Swiss bank account of Oman's former telecommunications minister, Ahmed Suwaidan Al Balushi, in the late 1990s, apparently as compensation for winning a 300-million-kronor contract in the country, Swedish Radio said.
"This seems very strange ... That the company paid some government minister through an agent probably means in this case that it was a bribe," Oerjan Berner at anti-corruption group Transparency International told the radio station.
Swedish Radio posted bank documents and memos detailing the transaction, made public during a tax probe of the company, on its website.
Ericsson in one memo listed go-between agent Peter Sullivan and his company Middle East Services as the beneficiaries of the commission payment for the contract it had received from Oman's telecommunications authorities to expand the mobile network in the capital Muscat, according to the radio.
The bank documents however reveal that Al Balushi, who was Oman's telecommunications minister until 2000, was the owner of the account into which the money was paid, the radio alleged.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA256325105406
www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=200701&Sn=WORL&IssueID=30247 - 27k -
That Ericsson was accused by a Swedish Journalist of paying about 2mln into the Swiss bank account of an agent for the ex-minister of Telecommunications in the late 90s hit the wire last week, but the ex-Minister was never named. That changed today.
It seems Swedish Radio has published documents listing the account's beneficiary as Ahmed Suwaidan Al Balushi, ex Minister rsponsible for telecom at the time and until 2000. Presumeably the same person who was also chairman of Oman's Alliance Housing Bank, until he was replaced at EGM July 2007.
While the investigator on whose work the story is based has said he has no evidence that the claim is true, readers should note that because he wouldn't have such evidence as he was looking at the system, not specific payments, and he hasn't said its not true.
A google search will get all the messy details.
STOCKHOLM, Nov 21, 2007 (AFP) - Ericsson AB, the world's leading mobile networks maker, allegedly paid more than a million dollars (euros) to a former Oman government minister in what appears to have been a bribe for a large contract, Swedish public radio reported Wednesday.
Ericsson paid 12 million kronor (1.3 million euros, 1.9 million dollars) into the Swiss bank account of Oman's former telecommunications minister, Ahmed Suwaidan Al Balushi, in the late 1990s, apparently as compensation for winning a 300-million-kronor contract in the country, Swedish Radio said.
"This seems very strange ... That the company paid some government minister through an agent probably means in this case that it was a bribe," Oerjan Berner at anti-corruption group Transparency International told the radio station.
Swedish Radio posted bank documents and memos detailing the transaction, made public during a tax probe of the company, on its website.
Ericsson in one memo listed go-between agent Peter Sullivan and his company Middle East Services as the beneficiaries of the commission payment for the contract it had received from Oman's telecommunications authorities to expand the mobile network in the capital Muscat, according to the radio.
The bank documents however reveal that Al Balushi, who was Oman's telecommunications minister until 2000, was the owner of the account into which the money was paid, the radio alleged.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA256325105406
www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=200701&Sn=WORL&IssueID=30247 - 27k -
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