Sweden charges ex-telecom execs in Uzbek corruption scandal

COPENHAGEN – Sweden’s prosecution authority says it has charged three former executives with Swedish telecom company Telia with corruption involving contracts in Uzbekistan.

Sweden’s TT news agency says the defendants include Lars Nyberg, who was chief executive of the company then known as TeliaSonera for six years. He resigned in 2013 following an internal investigation into a deal made with a company run by the Uzbek president’s daughter.

Another defendant is Tero Kivisaari who was the company’s business head for Eurasia. The third defendant was not immediately identified. Nyberg and Kivisaari deny wrongdoing.

Telia and its subsidiary in Uzbekistan, Coscom LLC, have admitted to making illegal payments of 2.6 billion kronor ($325 million) to Uzbek government officials to win business contracts in the country.

The maximum sentence is six years.