Former Siemens executives embroiled in corruption allegations are close to settling outstanding claims and are prepared to pay €500,000 back to the vendor.
Three former members of the management board could settle the matter by November, FT.com reports.
Siemens has outstanding damages claims against 11 former executive board members, including two former CEOs, Klaus Kleinfeld and Heinrich von Pierer. The matters relate to incidents occurring for several years leading up to 2006 over alleged “illegal business practices and extensive bribery.” Both CEO’s resigned in 2007 were not accused and deny any wrong doing.
Siemens said in a statement that the executives in question had resolved that they wanted to avoid years of conflict over the claims.
The news follows the successful closure of multi- million dollar settlements with governments globally to end allegations that Siemens staff paid bribes to win contracts.
Last month the World Bank reached a settlement with Siemens AG over “misconduct”, including alleged corruption, agreeing to pay €69 million over the next 15 years.
As part of the settlement, Siemens voluntarily decided not to bid for World Bank projects for two years.
Both parties also agreed to a four-year debarment for Siemens' Russian subsidiary.
“This settlement provides significant consequences for past wrongdoing by Siemens. At the same time, Siemens’ ongoing extensive cooperation could help the World Bank hold more corrupt firms and individuals accountable for diverting precious development resources away from the people who need them,” World Bank Integrity Vice-President Leonard McCarthy said.