A Swamp of Bribes - Siemens Forced to Battle Internal Corruption

[Rockstone]

For the past two weeks the company has been the subject of bribery allegations that, if true, would be the worst in the 159-year history of Siemens.

Allegedly, a group of managers conspired to channel off at least €200 million from the company's Communications division to a series of shell companies. The funds landed in secret accounts, which investigators suspect were used to bribe officials into awarding contracts to Siemens. Regardless of location -- Greece, Nigeria, Russia or Indonesia -- Siemens is accused of using the funds to win orders. And, the same methods were likely used at the company's other divisions.

In the end, is it possible that not 200, but perhaps 300 or even €500 million flowed through these secret channels? Is it possible that a team of creative employees skimmed off sums in the triple-digit millions of euros, without senior managers becoming aware of the situation, as they claim? And, why didn't company management and the supervisory board use all of their powers to clear up the matter, which they must have been aware of since 2003?


http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,451105,00.html

By the way - the last company to expose their fraud in the Siemens Medical scandal was US competitor, General Electric.

[Lasthorseman]

1. Another take

This may have a secondary purpose. The European markets may have to slow down and stop spending money. This will give them time to see how bad the US economy crashes and how far reaching the effects of this will be.

[Rockstone]

2. I was wondering if

Since this was a formerly legal and institutionalized process, if they brought Kleinfelter in as a "clean man" to be a reformer before letting this proceed.

I think if anything it will amount to financial penalties (i.e. "indulgences").

[Lasthorseman]

3. And the winner is!

I work for Siemens. Germany does not have to operate in a "post Enron" mode as the US does. Sarbanes Oxley has and will continue to accellerate the US into third world country status. This is by design and is being done on purpose. If one wanted to say ensure the survival of certain companies one might NEED a reason to slow them down, decrease spending and or bog the company down with audits.

[Rockstone]

4. So, if am I understanding this correctly,

they want a reason to slow down and thereby decrease their investment in America - to step back and see how far that market is going to decline? To essentially change their wager on a horse that is pulling up lame?

[Lasthorseman]

6. Yes and it's not just Siemens

a simple Google of German business scandals will do.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2066962.stm
This one, although way back in 2000 has the typical meme in it. Scroll down and see that the common man always gets screwed.

"And the scandal comes just as the Social Democratic government is discussing important reforms to make the German economy more competitive-among them a complex package of tax cuts and a long postponed overhaul of Germany’s pension and welfare systems."
See less health care, less vacation time, lower pensions simply to be "globally competitive".
Bullshit.

[DemReadingDU]

5. Lots of fraud with Halliburton/KBR too

Do you see that there is any connection the way all these companies are being operated? A select few people becoming exorbitantly rich before everything collapses?

[Lasthorseman]

7. Yes

Sarbanes Oxley is really about control. These "reforms" on the surface might make perfect sense in preventing accounting shenanigans but they do alter radically the way business is done it is in effect the equivalent of Communism. The mounting pressures on American businesses to be competitive globally. Well in the US it's too expensive to buy the materials needed to manufacture something that you can buy completed from China. Is that "free" trade? This has effectively cancelled out years upon years of gains labor has made for workers in the US. It worked so well here so why not try it out in Europe.

[DemReadingDU]

8. Byron Dorgan : Take This Job and Ship It

My spouse and I are currently reading this book by Sen Byron Dorgan: Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America. It is an excellent book!

Yet, we are distressed. We're not sure that we will ever recover any of the manufacturing jobs that have been shipped out of this country. And, we don't see any jobs taking the place of all those good computer programmer jobs that have outsourced to India and Mexico. It will not be easy to become a nation mainly of workers paid at minimum-wage jobs.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-This-Job-Ship-Brain-Dead/dp/031235522X