South Africa’s specialized crime fighting unit, the Hawks, will be investigating mobile operator MTN on charges of alleged corruption stemming from a license agreement in Iran.
The investigation was confirmed by Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela, who told BusinessTech that they had received new information regarding the matter, and that the investigation was on-going.
“We have received information regarding allegations of corruption at MTN. We conducted an enquiry phase, to test these allegations, and have decided to conduct an investigation. We are not obliged to discuss our case with the firm we are investigating,” he said.
The investigation emerged after the fact that former MTN executive Chris Kilowan admitted on record to bribing South Africa’s former ambassador to Iran, and said that he did so in order to “to thank him for assisting the mobile giant”.
The City Press newspaper, which broke the story of the alleged bribe, said “(Kilowan) implicates himself and top MTN executives in underhanded dealings to acquire a multibillion-dollar mobile licence in the pariah state”.
In a statement from the mobile operator, Kilowan’s claims were dismissed. “In his recent deposition, his evidence was discredited in a number of major respects,” the group said.
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
