MTN: the $4.2bn question that won’t go away
A case that may cost the company dearly could go all the way to the Constitutional Court. But it will be a long time before the cellphone operator has to face allegations of corruption and bribery in court — if it ever does. For now, the argument turns on jurisdiction
Was MTN involved in bribery and corruption when it won a stake in Iran’s GSM licence in 2005, or has Turkish cellular group Turkcell been duped into believing a whistle-blower’s account and haplessly litigating for more than a decade?
The case heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on August 26 and 27 won’t provide any definitive answers to that. It was a preliminary case about some complex points in law. If the court finds in favour of MTN, Turkcell, through its subsidiary East Asian Consortium (EAC) may mull its options and try to approach the Constitutional Court. If the SCA finds in favour of EAC, MTN is likely to appeal...
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