Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - South Africa's elite Hawks police unit has
opened an investigation into allegations of corruption at mobile phone giant
MTN Group [JSE:MTN] relating to its purchase of a mobile licence in Iran, a
police spokesperson said.
The police probe follows a $4.2bn US civil claim filed in
March by Turkish operator Turkcell, accusing MTN of bribing Iranian and South
African officials with cash and promises of defence equipment to
secure the licence originally awarded to Turkcell.
"There are allegations of corruption. That's exactly
what we're investigating," Hawks spokesperson MacIntosh Polela said on
Tuesday.
MTN officials were also accused in the court papers of
promising that Pretoria would vote favourably towards Tehran's nuclear
programme at international fora trying to curb Iran's suspected pursuit of
nuclear weapons.
MTN officials have denied any wrongdoing and described the
Turkcell case as without legal merit. Pretoria has also denied that its diplomacy
is for sale.
An MTN spokesperson declined immediate comment on the Hawks
investigation.
The scandal has thrown a harsh spotlight on MTN, a $31bn
company with close links to the ANC and
one of the country's great post-apartheid success stories.
MTN shares were 0.3% weaker at 11:27 GMT, a shade weaker that then overall Johannesburg stock market.
