Greek Siemens suspect reportedly confessed to corruption charges

Jul 4, 2009, 11:28 GMT

Munich - The former director of industrial giant Siemens AG in Greece, Michalis Christoforakos, has apparently confessed to charges of bribery, German media reported Saturday.

The Greek manager, on remand in a Munich prison, reportedly described payoffs made by Siemens to secure a large contract for the Athens Olympics in 2004, according to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and weekly Spiegel news magazine.

Christoforakos, who holds a German passport, reportedly denied claims that he was personally involved in bribery payments for a 500 million-euro deal with Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE).

SZ further reported that Christoforakos had also confessed that sums had been paid to the two leading political parties in Greece, PASOK and the New Democracy Party.

Munich's senior prosecutor Anton Winkler refused to confirm the reports, while Christoforakos' lawyer Stefan Kursawe said at most his client had invested in relations with important contacts.

'My client doesn't have the slightest to do with direct bribery payments for contracts,' Kursawe told Spiegel.

The former head of Siemens Hellas fled Greece mid-May. He was arrested in the southern German state of Bavaria two weeks ago.

Greek authorities have charged a total of six former Siemens Greece officials, two of whom are in jail pending trial as well a former official with the country's largest telecom company OTE.

Siemens is under investigation in several countries over allegations of bribery and corruption in its communications sector.

The company launched its own investigations and is cooperating with foreign officials in all investigations outside of Germany.