Siemens cash trail revealed
A former employee of Siemens in Greece told a prosecutor yesterday that he had 8 million euros of the company’s money but he intends to return the funds to the electronics giant. Prodromos Mavridis, who was general manager of information and communications at the firm, left Siemens in March but admitted that he still had the money in bank accounts in Greece and Switzerland. Mavridis told prosecutor Panayiotis Athanassiou that the money had been given to him for a number of legal tasks. Siemens has sued Mavridis but also says the funds were not intended for any shady dealings. German prosecutors are investigating allegations that Siemens used slush funds to bribe clients. Greek authorities are probing claims that money was paid to officials for the Athens Olympics security system contract. Athanassiou is also expected to question the managing director of Siemens in Greece, Michalis Christoforakos, and company executive Dionysis Dendrinos, who was the general manager of One Siemens, which was involved in the deal for the security package.
