Recent Siemens CFO fingered in bribery scandal

SIEMENS' RECENTLY-RESIGNED chief financial officer has been named as a suspect by German prosecutors investigating the embezzlement and bribery scandal at the the company's fixed-line telecommunications unit.

Heinz-Joachim Neubürger, who resigned in April, 2006 after failing to become CEO, has denied any wrong-doing.

Neubürger is suspected of trying to persuade auditors KPMG to ignore a payment that looked like a bribe. And of being aware of up to 420 million Euros-worth of fraudulent payments.

These were apparently paid to pretend-consultants for non-existent work, and to front companies, in Nigeria or example, as bribes to individuals involved in awarding contracts, a trio of Swiss, Italian and German prosecutors alleges.

Neuburger is the second ex-executive at Siemens to be called a suspect. Thomas Ganswindt, the formed boss of the fixed line telecommunications unit, is in police custody but has not been charged.

Siemens chairman, Heinrich von Pierer, the CEO during the years apparently rife with bribery and embezzlement, has refused to resign, saying he was unaware of any illegal shenanigans.

As Siemens and Nokia are looking to merge their telecommunications operations, the scandal at Siemens is giving Nokia the jitters.

Klaus Kleinfeld, Siemens' current CEO, has told employees the company may not survive unless the scandal is cleared up. He has instructed an anti-corruption expert and an outside law firm to review Siemens' processes and make sure they are squeaky-clean. µ

L'INQ
International Herald Tribune