Siemens AG said yesterday it plans to sue two former CEOs and nine other former executives for a corruption scandal that has cost the company millions in fines and damaged its reputation.

Siemens’ supervisory board decided to seek damages from former chief executive Heinrich von Pierer and his successor, Klaus Kleinfeld, now the chief executive of Alcoa Inc, and others, the industrial conglomerate said in a statement.

Siemens said it based its claim for damages on “breaches of their organizational and supervisory duties” relating to illegal business practices and extensive bribery between 2003 and 2006, practices now placing a substantial financial burden on the company.

The company said the 11 former board members “will be given an opportunity to state their positions on the accusations before legal action for damages is taken.”

Siemens has acknowledged dubious payments of up to 1.3 billion euros (US$2 billion) in the corruption case that came to light last year.

An investigation commissioned by Siemens has found evidence of violations across the company and in several countries.

Siemens, which makes everything from wind turbines to trams, agreed in October to pay a 201 million euro fine to end some legal proceedings in Germany related to the investigation.

By: DocMemory
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