Siemens 2012 Annual Report Download - page 282

1 A. To our Shareholders 49 C. Combined Management Report 21 B. Corporate Governance
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legal obligations or claims. No payment was made by either
party. As previously reported, the Argentinean Anti-Corruption
Authority is conducting an investigation against individuals in-
to corruption of government officials in connection with the
award of the contract for the DNI project to Siemens in calen-
dar . Searches were undertaken at the premises of Siemens
Argentina and Siemens IT Services S.A. in Buenos Aires in
August  and in February . The Company is cooperat-
ing with the Argentinean Authorities. The Argentinean investi-
gative judge also repeatedly requested judicial assistance from
the Munich public prosecutor and the federal court in New
York. In December , the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com-
mission (SEC) and U.S. Department of Justice filed an indict-
ment against nine individuals based on the same facts as the
investigation of the Argentinean Anti-Corruption Authority.
Most of these individuals are former Siemens employees. The
former member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG, Dr. Uriel
Sharef, is also involved. Siemens AG is not party to the pro-
ceedings.
As previously reported, in February  a Greek Parliamentary
Investigation Committee (GPIC) was established to investigate
whether any politicians or other state officials in Greece were
involved in alleged wrong-doing of Siemens in Greece. The
GPIC’s investigation was focused on possible criminal liability
of politicians and other state officials. Greek public prosecutors
are separately investigating certain fraud and bribery allega-
tions involving – among others – former board members and
former executives of Siemens A.E., Elektrotechnische Projekte
und Erzeugnisse, Greece (Siemens A.E.), and Siemens AG. In
January , the GPIC alleged in a letter to Siemens A.E. that
the damage suffered by the Greek state amounted to at least
€ billion. Furthermore, the GPIC issued a report repeating
these allegations. In addition, the Hellenic Republic Minister of
State indicated in a letter to Siemens that the Greek state will
seek compensation from Siemens for the alleged damage. In
April , the Greek Parliament approved a settlement agree-
ment between Siemens and the Greek State, the material pro-
visions of which include the following: Siemens waives public
sector receivables in the amount of € million. Furthermore
Siemens agrees to spend a maximum of € million on various
anti-corruption and transparency initiatives, as well as uni-
versity and research programs and to provide € million of
financial support to Siemens A.E. to ensure its continued pres-
ence in Greece. In exchange, the Greek State agrees to waive
all civil claims and all administrative fines related to the cor-
ruption allegations and to utilize best efforts to resolve all
pending disputes between Siemens and the Greek state-com-
panies or its public authorities.
In February , the Munich public prosecutor notified
Siemens AG of a request for mutual assistance in criminal
matters by a foreign authority. The investigation of the foreign
authority involves a Siemens subsidiary located in North
West Europe in connection with alleged payments to employ-
ees of a Russian company between calendar  and .
In November , the foreign authority notified Siemens
about its intention to bring a charge against two individuals
and to open proceedings against Siemens. Siemens is cooper-
ating with the authorities.
As previously reported, the Nigerian Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) was conducting an investigation
into alleged illegal payments by Siemens to Nigerian public of-
ficials between calendar  and . In October , the
EFCC filed charges with the Federal High Court in Abuja and
the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory against, among
others, Siemens Ltd., Nigeria (Siemens Nigeria), Siemens AG
and former board members of Siemens Nigeria. In November
, the Nigerian Government and Siemens Nigeria entered
into an out of court settlement, obligating Siemens Nigeria to
make a payment in the mid double-digit € million range to
Nigeria in exchange for the Nigerian Government withdrawing
these criminal charges and refraining from the initiation of any
criminal, civil or other actions – such as a debarment – against
Siemens Nigeria, Siemens AG, and Siemens employees.
As previously reported, the Vienna public prosecutor, Austria,
is conducting an investigation into payments between calen-
dar  and  relating to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Öster-
reich, Austria, and its subsidiary Siemens VAI Metal Technolo-
gies GmbH & Co., Austria, for which valid consideration could
not be identified. In September , the Vienna public prose-
cutor extended the investigations to include a potential corpo-
rate liability of Siemens AG Austria for tax evasion. Siemens is
cooperating with the authorities.
As previously reported, in September , the Anti-Corrup-
tion Commission of Bangladesh (ACC) filed criminal charges
against two current and one former employee of Siemens Ban-
gladesh Ltd.’s (Siemens Bangladesh) Healthcare business. It is
alleged that the employees colluded with employees of a pub-
lic hospital to overcharge for the delivery of medical equip-
ment in the period before calendar . The ACC has not sub-
stantiated the criminal charges within the time limit provided
by local law. Siemens Bangladesh filed a motion to dismiss the
charges in October . The court stayed its proceedings in
November .