Greek Prosecutor Files Charges Over Siemens Illegal Payments
ATHENS (AFP)--A Greek prosecutor Tuesday filed corruption and money laundering charges against persons unknown in an ongoing probe into bribes allegedly paid by German engineering group Siemens to Greek politicians, a justice source said.
The charges follow a two-year investigation into contracts won by Siemens to equip the country's main telecoms operator Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) more than a decade ago and later to help create a costly security system for the Athens 2004 Olympics.
No specific suspects were named Tuesday but the procedure enables authorities to open a wide-ranging investigation.
The probe in Greece began after revelations in 2005 that the German group had earmarked significant funds for payments to secure foreign contracts.
Prosecutor Panayiotis Athanassiou took testimony from several witnesses including former Siemens Hellas managers and several businessmen and stockbrokers suspected of acting as go-betweens for the payments.
The affair has embroiled the two main political parties in Greece, the ruling New Democracy conservatives and the opposition Pasok socialists, amid heavy media speculation that cadres on both sides took Siemens perks and gifts.
Pasok was recently thrown into turmoil when a former party cadre claimed that EUR420,000 in illegal Siemens funding went into the party's coffers before the 2000 elections.
The socialists were in power until 2004 and oversaw the bulk of preparations for the Athens Olympics.
But the ruling New Democracy conservatives could also be implicated in the scandal as the Siemens payments continued after they came to power, Greek press reports said.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis last week pledged to open a parliamentary inquiry into the case as soon as the judicial investigation is complete.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 1st July 2008
