LONDON, England: According to a leaked company report seen by BBC News Arabic, the telecoms giant Ericsson put contractors’ lives at risk by insisting they continue working in territory controlled by the Islamic State [IS] group in Iraq, resulting in them being kidnapped by IS militants.

The latest revelations follow last week’s admission by Ericsson Chief executive Borje Ekholm that money had been paid by the company to access quicker transport routes in Iraq, with IS being the possible recipients.

More than $5 billion was wiped from Ericsson’s market value after Ekholm’s comments.

The 2019 document, obtained by the International Consortium of International Journalists [ICIJ] and shared with the BBC and 29 other media partners, is an internal investigation into corrupt activities and bribery in 10 countries allegedly committed by Ericsson, with the most serious findings centered on its operations in Iraq.

The report found that in June 2014, when IS seized Iraq’s second-city, Mosul, a senior Ericsson lawyer recommended shutting down the company’s operation in Iraq, but senior managers ignored this, as they felt such a move was “premature” and would “destroy” Ericsson’s business in the country.

Ericsson’s insistence that its contractors continue to work in IS-held territory put lives at risk, because the militant group then took a number of contractors hostage, the report added.

This was not Ericsson’s only possible interaction with IS. The company’s transport contractors used a route through the country, called the “Speedway,” which avoided government checkpoints but passed through IS territory, Ericsson investigators found, adding that they discovered evidence of likely payments to militants along this route.

The internal Ericsson document reveals a widespread culture of corrupt activities and paying bribes totalling millions of dollars in 10 separate countries, including a slush fund for Lebanese officials over a number of years totalling nearly $1million, as well as gifts, such as a $50,000 luxury trip to Stockholm for Boutros Harb, former Lebanese Minister of Telecoms.

In 2019, Ericsson reached a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. authorities following allegations of widespread corruption in five countries. Ericsson has not clarified whether the new revelations were disclosed to the US Department of Justice at the time of the settlement.