The US has called for action to be taken by Montenegro over bribery surrounding the sale of the incumbent Telekom Crne Gore to Magyar Telekom.
In a statement, the US embassy in Podgorice says that a civil case was brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Elek Straub, Andras Balogh and Tamas Morvai of Magyar Telekom, alleging that they authorised Magyar Telekom to make €7.35 million in corrupt payments to government officials in order to facilitate the acquisition.
As Magyar Telekom has shares listed on the US stock market, the US has jurisdiction over Magyar Telekom executives for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1997.
The SEC can therefore act against the three individuals, though not the Montenegrins involved in the case, having found evidence of bribery in Montenegro.
The embassy says that it is now calling on Montenegro “to carry out a thorough investigation and to bring all guilty parties to justice”.
