Translated material
Olympic case Siemens
The Athens prosecutor's office has claims against the German concern
The financial scandal around Siemens is becoming increasingly global. As the German media learned yesterday from the Athens prosecutor's office, a criminal case has been opened in Greece against a German concern in connection with suspicions of money laundering by company employees in this country, as well as bribery. Globally, claims against Siemens have already exceeded 1.3 billion euros. In particular, in Greece, investigators managed to establish various types of illegal financial fraud by Siemens totaling 100 million euros.At the end of 2007, the German concern fired the head of its representative office in Greece. It is assumed that he is one of the central figures in the case of money laundering and bribes, which even Greek politicians did not disdain. Siemens money, as it now became known, went to the coffers of political parties in Athens. In addition, the competent authorities of Greece do not rule out that Siemens illegally supplied communications equipment to the country’s ground forces.
In the meantime, representatives of the Athens prosecutor's office reported that they have strong evidence of wrongdoing, in particular in connection with the supply under a contract with Siemens of external surveillance equipment for security systems that were installed during the 2004 Olympic Games. Most likely, this is only the tip of the corruption iceberg of the German concern in Hellas. According to the prosecutor's office, during the investigative measures it was not possible to find all the suspects. Therefore, it is expected that this process may take many months.
Greek justice also has many questions regarding Siemens’ transactions with the Greek telecommunications company OTE. We are talking about large orders for the digitalization of the Greek telephone network, which went to Siemens in the 90s. The investigation into this case has been ongoing for about two years. True, the charges brought by the prosecutor's office are not directed against specific individuals. According to the Athens prosecutor's office, about a hundred witnesses were questioned, including former high-ranking employees of Siemens and OTE.