Former Siemens Accountant Says Bribes Were Common

Executives for Siemens AG, now Nokia Siemens, knew about bribes for customers in the 1990s, Bloomberg reported today.

Siemens has been under fire since November 2006 for “unclear payments” of $2 billion between 2000 and 2006. A criminal trial is underway in Munich and authorities are probing for details in at least 12 countries.

Renhard Siekaczek is on trial for allegedly bribing as much as 30 percent of the value of a contract, a former accountant told a German court on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. Siekaczek was a manager at the company’s fixed-line communications unit. He is charged with 58 counts of breach of trust and earlier this months told the court he organized sham contracts to hide bribes, Bloomberg reported.

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