(Ecofin Agency) - On December 7, 215, fixed-line telecom operator Neotel announced in a release that its CEO Sunil Joshi resigned. His resignation follows an investigation led by the firm’s board of administration which cleared him of bribery allegations.

These investigations were initiated at the beginning of the year after newspaper The Mail & Guardian made allegations about Neotel making illicit payments totaling R91 million to a letterbox company Homix in order to win a R1.8 billion ($123 million) contract.

Neotel in its release said: “As a result of this investigation and with information provided the board of administration relating the Homix transaction, the board found no evidence of implication of Mr. Joshi in any bribery or corruption activities (…) Separately, we regret to inform you that Mr Joshi has decided to pursue his own interests, and will resign from Neotel with immediate effect.”

The resignation of Sunil Joshi intervenes while Neotel’s process for acquisition Vodacom has been put on hold by the competition tribunal, after Vodacom has decided to revise the transaction’s structure.