The former CEO of Siemens has been exonerated by the Athens Court of Appeal together with several ex-managers.
(Photo: dpa)
Cologne The Greek Court of Appeal in Athens has acquitted all of the company’s managers in the Siemens bribery scandal. This ends a long-standing criminal case over a bribery case in Greece that began around 24 years ago and occupied German and Greek law enforcement authorities.
At the end of 2019, the lower court in Greece had sentenced the Siemens executives to long prison terms in some cases. This included the former Siemens executive and supervisory board chief Heinrich von Pierer, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Former Siemens board member Thomas Ganswindt was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The court sentenced five other former German managers of the group to seven years in prison.
The Siemens executives affected by the current decision can now breathe a sigh of relief. “My client was acquitted of money laundering charges today. After extensive investigations, the public prosecutor’s office has already applied for Pierer’s acquittal again, arguing that there was no evidence of misconduct. It is, so to speak, a first-class acquittal,” said von Pierer’s lawyer Norbert Scharf when asked.
probable end of proceedings
The case goes back to an order from 1998. At that time, after long negotiations with the then state Greek telecommunications authority OTE, the Munich company was awarded the contract for the conversion of the Greek analogue telephone network to digital technology. The volume of the business amounted to the equivalent of almost 693 million euros. When it was awarded, bribes amounting to the equivalent of around 68 million euros were said to have flowed to decision-makers in Greece at the time.
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With the acquittal by the court of appeal, the case of Siemens’ “slush funds”, which has occupied the judiciary for years, is probably over. Specifically, 20 of the 22 defendants were found not guilty either by a majority or unanimously on the money laundering charge. That was the remaining allegation at issue in the process.
For all accused crimes up to 2002, the proceedings were discontinued due to the statute of limitations. One defendant died in the course of the proceedings, one is on the run and had not lodged an appeal.
Prosecutors still have an option
“The court of second instance correctly acquitted all the accused. Given this evidence, any other decision would not have been justifiable,” explains Cologne criminal defense attorney Nikolaos Gazeas, who coordinated the defense of the Siemens defendants in Greece. “After more than 16 years of proceedings, some of which were conducted under considerable pressure and led to arrest warrants and extradition requests against German defendants, this chapter should now be closed,” says Gazeas.
However, the public prosecutor’s office still has an opportunity to keep the case open. Then the accusers would have to appeal to the Areopagus. The Areopagus is the highest Greek criminal court, comparable to the Federal Court of Justice. It would be his job to review the judgment for errors of law.
However, Gazeas warns that such an approach would most likely lead to nothing. “In two years, all offenses would be statute-barred, and it is impossible that an appeal would be successfully completed by then and a new court judgment would be available,” says Gazeas.
In Germany, von Pierer never had to go to court because of the affair. He denied knowing about the bribes, but accepted a fine of 250,000 euros for violating the duty of supervision and paid Siemens 5 million euros in damages. Criminal proceedings against the ex-CEO Ganswindt were also discontinued against a payment of 175,000 euros.
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