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Siemens bribery settlement

March 9, 2012

German electronics company Siemens has reached an out-of-court settlement with the Greek government worth 270 million euros ($358 million), bringing to a close a decade-long bribery scandal.

https://p.dw.com/p/14Hwc
The Siemens logo
Image: picture alliance / dpa

Greece had last year demanded remuneration from Siemens after the corporate giant admitted to keeping a slush fund to obtain foreign contracts.

A Greek parliamentary committee ruled that inflated contract prices cost the country more than 2 billion euros during the 1990s. A portion of the money was believed to have ended up in the pockets of a handful of senior Greek officials who helped broker the deals.

As many as 15 Greek government ministers or former ministers were implicated in the scandal. Three Siemens officials sought by Greek authorities managed to flee the country.

As part of the settlement, Siemens will hand over 90 million euros to the Greek government to help it fight corruption and 80 million euros to go toward paying off its debt.

Siemens must also "invest 100 million euros in Greece" this year and look at setting up a production plant worth an estimated 60 million euros.

The Greek Finance Ministry said Siemens had also apologized to "the Greek people, parliament and government" and would take measures to combat corruption in its Greek branch.

dfm/cmk (AFP, dpa)