Greece to sue Siemens in bribery scandal

The government of Greece said it will take legal action against German engineering and electronics giant Siemens AG for allegedly bribing Greek officials.

An 11-month parliamentary investigation into the affair estimated that the alleged bribes cost Greek taxpayers about 2-billion euros ($2.7-billion).

“Greece will seek compensation for the damage it has suffered from the corrupt practices that have been used by your company in the past, wrote investment minister Haris Pamboukis to the German company's Greek subsidiary, Siemens Hellas.

Pamboukis added that government would employ all appropriate means to recover damages.

The acts of bribery allegedly occurred between 1997-2002 and impacted telecoms contracts as well as security prior to the 2004 Athens Olympics.

One former Socialist Transport Minister Tassos Mantelis, admitted to government investigators he had taken the equivalent of 100,000 euros ($136,700) in bribes in 1998.

However, other Socialist politicians being investigated cannot be prosecuted due to the statute of limitation. Nonetheless, the investigating committee of Greece’s regime will soon reveal the names of other ministers accused of accepting bribes.

A Siemens spokesman said the company has done everything humanly possible to shed light on the past dealings and has always fully cooperated with the authorities.

Siemens has already settled other similar bribery charges in Germany and the U.S. which resulted in the company paying out 1-billion euros in penalties.