27 March 2022; MEMO: Microsoft has been accused of being involved in a bribery scheme whereby millions of dollars were paid in illegal bribes in the Middle East and Africa.
According to a former senior director at the firm, Yasser Elabd, the tech giant spent over $200 million a year.
"In my estimation, a minimum of $200 million each year goes to Microsoft employees, partners, and government employees," he wrote in a post on whistleblower platform Lioness.
"Experience leads me to believe that 60–70 per cent of the company's salespeople and managers in the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Europe are receiving these payments. Among the customers who I believe have received this money are government officials in Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia."
In 2016, Elabd claimed that he challenged a dubious $40,000 payment to make a sale in an African country, only to be reprimanded and eventually fired two years later. "I am not the only person at Microsoft who has alleged corrupt practices. I know of five others from various departments who were terminated or pushed to resign for raising flags about inconsistencies in finances," Elabd explained.
In 2020, he said how a former colleague in Saudi Arabia began forwarding him emails and documentation that showed further evidence of corruption.
"Examining an audit of several partners conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, I discovered that when agreeing to terms of sale for a product or contract, a Microsoft executive or salesperson would propose a side agreement with the partner and the decision maker at the entity making the purchase."
Microsoft has previously been implicated in corruption scandals. In 2019, the company paid a $25.3 million penalty to the US government for allowing bribery and kickbacks in Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey.
Responding to the latest allegations, Microsoft announced yesterday that it has already launched an investigation into the matter and has sacked several employees.
Becky Lenaburg, vice president and deputy general counsel for compliance and ethics, told AFP that "We believe we've previously investigated these allegations, which are many years old, and addressed them."
"We cooperated with government agencies to resolve any concerns," she added.
