Ericsson and CEO Boerje Ekholm have previously been heavily criticized for their handling of an internal investigation into the company’s operations in Iraq.

Thirty-seven Ericsson shareholders are suing the Swedish telecommunications company for a total of 1.8 billion Swedish kronor ($170 million or about Rs 1,405 crore), alleging that the disclosure of the Director’s Iraq activities executives have lost the title, business daily Dagens Industri reported. Friday.

Ericsson and Chief Executive Officer Boerje Ekholm faced heavy criticism last year for handling an internal investigation into the company’s activities in Iraq and a scandal involving illegal payments. potential payments to the Islamic State.

Shareholders, including several investment companies and pension funds, have filed separate lawsuits in Swedish courts, but their actions are coordinated, the newspaper reported.

Ericsson disputes its claims in its entirety and intends to defend itself vigorously in this regard, which is unprecedented in Swedish litigation and is contrary to fundamental principles of public law. Swedish company,” the company said in an emailed statement. The Swedish court did not respond after hours of requests for comment.

Dagens Industri said shareholders have been demanding compensation because Ericsson shares have plummeted since February 16, 2022, after the newspaper published the disclosure of Ekholm CEO during an interview with an internal report on the company’s operations. company in Iraq. The share price has halved since then to 52.71 crowns on Friday.

In May of this year, Nasdaq Stockholm ended its review of the company’s public disclosures related to the report.

He concluded that he “was not able to come to the conclusion that the content of the report was that a reasonable investor would use this information to make his or her investment decisions”.