JOHANNESBURG, April 1 (Reuters) – The former chief executive
of MTN Group denied on Sunday that he authorised bribes
to Iranian and South African government officials in return for
a cellular licence in Iran.
“I can state quite categorically that during my tenure as
group CEO of MTN no bribes were authorised or paid by the MTN
Group to any South African or Iranian government officials to
secure the mobile licence in Iran,” Phuthuma Nhleko said in a
statement.
Turkish mobile operator Turkcell this week filed a $4.2
billion lawsuit against MTN, accusing it of using bribery and
other corrupt acts to win its licence in Iran in 2004.
Nhleko, who was then the CEO of MTN, is named in the suit,
as well as its current CEO, who was then the chief operating
officer.
(Reporting by David Dolan, editing by Ed Stoddard)
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