A court in Athens has in the bribery affair at Siemens
In total, the court sentenced 22 former employees of Siemens AG and the former state-owned Greek telecommunications company OTE for bribery and money laundering to between six and 15 years in prison (read more about the affair here). Among them, according to the Greek state broadcasting (ERT) seven Germans. However, it is not expected that Germany will extradite the German citizens.
The three-year trial mainly concerned bribes paid by Siemens employees to decision-makers in Greece after 1997 in order to take over the digitization of the Greek telephone network. The first investigations began more than ten years ago, meanwhile ten of the original 64 suspects have died. Against others the charge had to be dropped because of prescription.
Condemnation came "completely surprising"
The process should now be continued in higher instances. Ex-boss Von Pierer has announced that he will appeal the verdict. In a Statement By Pierers states: "We will also request that the verdict in Germany is not executed, because it violates elementary rule of law principles." The proceedings in Athens were to a large extent based on documents from a preliminary investigation in Germany.
The "very intense" investigations of the German prosecutor's office had not resulted in a criminal charge against him, so Von Pierer. The prosecutor in Greece has meanwhile applied for an acquittal. The current conviction was then "completely surprising," according to Von Pierers.
The indictment did not concern Siemens AG as a company, but only persons who were implicated in the affair. In an out-of-court settlement, Athens and Siemens AG renounced, among other things, the repayment of Greek debt in 2012, according to the Greek Ministry of Finance, and promised to promote jobs in Greece.
