Prosecutor seeks trial for 64 in Siemens bribery scandal
A prosecutor recommended Monday that 64 people face bribery and money laundering charges in connection with the Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal following an eight-year probe that did not, however, implicate any politicians.
Financial prosecutor Galinos Bris sent his 2,368-page report to a council of judges which will make a final decision on whether the suspects should stand trial over the so-called 8002 contract, for Siemens to digitize OTE telecom’s network. The suspects are said to include 19 Siemens and 14 OTE telecom executives. It is alleged that nearly 70 million euros in bribes were paid to secure the deal.
The only Greek politician to have been convicted in connection with the scandal is ex-Transport Minister Tasos Mantelis, who was given a three-year suspended prison sentence in 2011 after being found to have accepted payments of 450,000 Deutsche Marks (230,000 euros) from Siemens between 1998 and 2000.
