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Siemens chief slams 'criminal practices' within the group
BERLIN
Petroleumworld.com, April 15, 2008
The head of German engineering giant Siemens on Tuesday slammed what he called "criminal practices" within the group that is still taking hits from a dogged corruption scandal.
In a letter to Siemens' 135,000 workers published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Peter Loescher charged that "irresponsible and criminal practices had existed for a long time" within the sprawling conglomerate.
"We are doing all we can to shed light on everything," added the group's chief executive, who took over in July and was the first boss recruited from outside the company.
Siemens has struggled with revelations that it created a slush fund to pay bribes to obtain foreign contracts and that it built up a small trade union to try and offset the power of Germany's large IG Metall union.
The group has acknowledged the existence of funds worth 1.3 billion euros (2.0 billion dollars) and agreed in October to pay a fine of 201 million euros to put an end to some German legal proceedings.
Former company directors could still face charges however, and Siemens has not ruled out filing compensation claims itself if their responsibility is proven.
Siemens is also the subject of a potentially damaging probe by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by virtue of the fact that shares in the company are listed in the United States.
Since Loescher took over, details of the corruption scandal have continued to emerge, and he has pledged to pursue trails throughout the group, which makes items from lightbulbs and telecommunications systems to power plants and trains.
On Monday, German justice officials said they had widened their probe of Siemens to the electrical distribution division and its former head, Uriel Sharef.
Until now, investigators had focused on the telecommunications division.
Finally, the news magazine Der Speigel on Monday reported speculation that dubious links might have existed between Siemens and German secret services.
Story from AFP
AFP 15 1008 GMT 04 08
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