| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Siemens Employees Admit Bribes
Siemens employees arrested in an anticorruption sweep have confessed to giving Russian cellular communications figures bribes to receive help concluding large contracts, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports. The bribes were disguised as consultation fees. German sources say that the size of the bribes exceeded ˆ10 million per year. If that information is confirmed, large Russian purchasers of Siemens equipment may become involved in the investigation. They include MTS, Megafon, and Svyazinvest, including its subsidiaries Rostelkom and Transtelkom. All of those companies have contracts with Siemens worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The German newspaper refers to evidence given by two unnamed Siemens managers who were arrested last week in an investigation by the Munich prosecutor's office of corruption in the company's overseas dealings. No recipients of the bribes were named.
The Siemens investigation may be combined with a 2005 investigation in Frankfurt of Commerzbank, which was accused of laundering $1 billion for the St. Petersburg Telekominvest company between 1999 and 2001. No violations of German law were found in that investigation, but the case is still open. “The Frankfurt prosecutor's office is conducting an investigation of a group of entrepreneurs close to IT and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman,” a German source said.
More than ten people have been arrested in the Siemens investigation, which began last autumn. Among those arrested are former member of the board of directors Thomas Ganswindt, who was until recently in charge of the company's telecommunications division. Lawyers point out, however, that such charges are difficult to bring to court. “The line between bribe and a consulting fee can be very blurry,” commented Prospect senior lawyer Eldar Nazmutdinov.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 02, 2007
|
|
|
