Six years of investigations and $1.23 billion. That’s how much Ericsson now expects to lose in a potential settlement and related costs to resolve ethics breaches spanning six countries. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice have been investigating the vendor since 2013 and 2015, respectively, over an alleged kickback scheme.

Ericsson fired 50 people last year following an internal investigation into the scandal and has been apologetic and generally forthcoming about the financial impact of the ongoing inquiry into ethics breaches. The company hasn’t disclosed details about the breaches, but the scope of the investigation goes back decades, covers a wide area of geographic regions and businesses, and is at least partially related to a payment system dating back to the ‘90s.

The SEC in particular has been probing possible Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. The fallout over the scandal has been widespread and ongoing, but this marks the first time Ericsson has put a price on what it expects to be a $1 billion penalty issued by U.S. authorities. That would make it one of the costliest corruption cases on record, according to Bloomberg.

The steep penalty also comes amid an ongoing turnaround period for the vendor wherein the company has aggressively cut costs and focused on the 5G radio access network space for growth. Indeed, the vendor has been riding a wave of 5G momentum, claiming that its products are deployed in about two-thirds of all commercially launched 5G networks to date.

“Over the last two years we have operationally turned around our company and established a strong portfolio and competitive cost structure,” said CEO Börje Ekholm in a prepared statement. “With today’s announcement we confront another legacy issue and take the next step in resolving it. We have to recognize that the company has failed in the past and I can assure you that we work hard every day to build a stronger Ericsson where ethics and compliance are cornerstones in how we conduct business.”

The fallout from the corruption scandal also hangs like a dark cloud over Ekholm’s future at the company. Ekholm joined Ericsson as CEO in 2017 after Hans Vestberg, now CEO at Verizon, was ousted over declining profit.

He could be planning an exit from the company after less than three years in the role, Reuters reported last month, citing Swedish media reports. At the time, Ericsson issued a statement that read: “The executive team is fully focused on implementing our focused strategy and building a stronger Ericsson in the long term. Ericsson declines to comment on rumors and speculations.”

Ericsson made clear that the financial provision is merely an estimate and it declined to comment on the ongoing process with U.S. authorities. The SEC and Justice Department have yet to reach a final settlement with the vendor. After its most recent quarter closed, the company warned investors that profits would sag as 5G network deployments ramp up in Asia.

“In addition to the estimated costs related to resolving the investigations, Ericsson could experience reputational harm and other negative consequences as a result of these matters,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Ericsson announced plans to build a 300,000-square-foot factory in the Dallas suburbs to produce 5G and advanced antenna radio systems for deployments in North America.