- Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) fired some employees and terminated partnerships concerning bribery allegations in its sales efforts in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- A former Microsoft manager Yasser Elabd, who worked throughout the Middle East and Africa from 1998 to 2018, made the allegations public after being fired.
- Elabd alleged that Microsoft employees were involved in widespread bribery schemes across several countries in the region, WSJ writes.
- Elabd alleged the employees of using local partner companies to help sell the Microsoft products to customers involving customer discounts which they distributed among themselves, partners, and sometimes government officials.
- Elabd sought to escalate the workplace concerns to higher-ranking executives.
- Microsoft allegedly fired Elabd after he refused to be put to a performance-improvement plan.
- Microsoft admitted its redressal of the allegations and cooperation with government agencies, followed by the termination of employees and partnerships.
- Elabd submitted his claims to the U.S. SEC in early 2019. However, Federal employees were notably interested in Microsoft’s dealings in Saudi Arabia, Elabd admitted.
- Further, the pandemic prevented the SEC from collecting evidence abroad.
- Price Action: MSFT shares traded higher by 0.68% at $305.73 on the last check Monday.
