
MTN seeks to reduce $5.2B Nigerian fine - tonteldoos
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34696777
======
ilitirit
On the one hand, $5.2B in 2 weeks is an unreasonable amount of money, and
virtually everyone agrees that the value is only that high because of the
kidnapping of the Finance Minister.

On the other, MTN's service has been _atrocious_ for the last two years or so
(I've been a customer for about 15 years).

$5.2B is too much, but they really do deserve a massive fine.

~~~
claudius
> $5.2B is too much, but they really do deserve a massive fine.

Apparently it’s just double the annual profits – as a private person, you can
easily end up in prison for two years for facilitating the kidnapping of
someone, I don’t see why a company shouldn’t “lose out” on two years for
facilitating that kidnapping, let alone all the other issues mentioned in the
article.

Of course, ideally executives and shareholders would be imprisoned, but one
can only wish…

~~~
ilitirit
Toyota was fined $1.2b in 2014 for deliberately concealing safety defects -
something that was linked to actual deaths. It was the biggest fine ever
handed down to a car maker by US courts.

I don't see how $5.2b is justifiable in this case.

(This is of course besides the whole issue of whether or not people should be
forced to divulge things like their phone numbers to government in the first
place...)

~~~
claudius
The justice system in Nigeria (if it exists…) is not bound by US precedent.
Further, deliberately concealing safety defects is usually at most (grossly)
negligent manslaughter, not a active participation in an abduction. In this
particular case, it was not even just one abduction but a whole series of
criminal activities supported by MTN.

Imagine the uproar if Toyota had not concealed safety defects but was selling
cars to ISIS operating somewhere in the United States despite an explicit ban
to stop doing that.

(Naturally, but whether or not the law is just/fair/appropriate is irrelevant
to the question of whether a violation of that law carries an acceptable fine,
in particular when the comparison to natural persons is easily available.)

------
tonteldoos
All manner of more recent developments after this article as well: 1] MTN
share trading has been suspended on the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) 2]
In an impressive about turn after threatening to leave South Africa a few
weeks ago, they asked the SA government to help negotiate with the Nigerian
authorities. 3] Any delay/reduction of the fine has so far been denied by
Nigerian authorities.

To put the size of the fine into perspective: Nigerian nominal GDP estimate
for 2015 (according to Wikipedia) is ~$564B.

