MTN denies again that it paid envoy for Iran licence

MTN has repeated its denial that it paid former SA ambassador to Iran Yusuf Saloojee to facilitate the cancellation of Turkcell’s Iranian cellphone licence.

Police in SA arrested Saloojee on graft charges related to the awarding of a cellphone licence to MTN after it had initially been given to Turkcell.

The case has been the subject of legal claims for several years by the Turkish company, which accuses MTN of paying bribes to SA and Iranian officials to secure 49% of Irancell Telecommunications Services in 2005, which issued it with a licence to operate in the country.

MTN has denied the charges, but Saloojee, 75, is accused of earning R1.4m for his role in the deal. The money was allegedly used to buy a house in Pretoria, the Hawks say.

“MTN has consistently denied that there is any credible evidence that it promised ambassador Saloojee any money, or that ambassador Saloojee accepted money from MTN,” MTN said.

“The allegations against MTN and ambassador Saloojee appear to be based on the evidence of a single witness, Mr Chris Kilowan, a disgruntled former employee of MTN.

“His allegations in this regard have been roundly rejected by Lord Hoffmann, an independent and renowned international jurist who investigated the claims of Kilowan and Turkcell in 2013. In his findings, Lord Hoffmann was entirely satisfied that MTN neither promised nor paid anything to ambassador Saloojee,” said the company.

“Ambassador Saloojee himself has repeatedly said that the money he received was the result of a private loan arrangement between him and Mr Kilowan, that he has repaid that loan to Mr Kilowan, and that this was a private matter between the two of them that had nothing to do with MTN or anyone else.”

The former ambassador’s arrest may have implications for the outcome of Turkcell’s latest attempt to sue MTN, which was filed in the Johannesburg high court in 2017. The Istanbulbased company is demanding $4.2bn in damages, plus interest, based on profit Turkcell says it could have made had it been able to keep the licence.

MTN traded 1.8% lower at R84.50 at the JSE’s close on Friday. The stock has slumped more than 34% over the past 12 months. Iran is MTN’s secondbiggest market, with about 44.5million subscribers.