Most of Siemens bribes were for telecom


Posted on December 26, 2008  /  0 Comments

Of the 4,283 bribery payments documented by the investigators, 2,505 (more than half) were made in relation to telecom contracts.   Of the total of USD 1,400.7 million disbursed, USD 813.9 million (more than half) were for telecom.  However, the complaint documents only three specific cases of large bribes paid in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Nigeria, all to government officials or politicians (including functionaries in government owned telecos).  These three instances account for only slightly over USD 18 million, less than 3% of the total spent on telecom.  This suggests rich pickings await the investigator who starts work on the court documents.

In 2002, Siemens COM paid approximately $140,000 in bribes in connection with a tender worth approximately $35 million for the supply of equipment and services related to a Global Systems mobile network for Vietel, a government owned telecommunications provider founded by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense. P. 27

Between 2004 and 2006, Siemens COM paid approximately $5.3 million in bribes to government officials in Bangladesh in connection with a contract with the Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (“BT’TB) to install mobile telephone services. The. total value of the contract was approximately $40.9 million. The payments ‘were made to three business consultants pursuant to sham agreements calling for services associatedwith the mobile telephone project. The ultimate recipients of the payments included the son of the then-Prime Minister in Bangladesh, the Minister of the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunicationsin Bangladesh, and the BTTB Director of Procurement. In addition, Siemens Limited Bangladesh, a regional company, hired relatives. of two other BTTB and Ministry of Post and Telecom officials. p. 19

Siemens COM made approximately $12.7 million in suspicious payments in connection with Nigerian projects, with at least $4.5 million paid as bribes in connection with four telecommunications projects with government customers in Nigeria, including Nigeria Telecommunications Limited and the Ministry of Communications. The total value of the four contracts was approximately $130 million. The practice of paying bribes by Siemens COM in Nigeria was long-standing and systematic. According to a high ranking official within Siemens Limited Nigeria, a regional company, corrupt payments in 2000 and 2001 commonly reached 15 to 30% of the contracts’ value. p. 20

From the Siemens Complaint (SEC v Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Case: 1 :08-cv-02167, before the US District Court, for the District of Columbia).

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