Norway police seek fine on Siemens unit for corruption
Police in Norway imposed on Tuesday a fine on the local unit of German engineering giant Siemens of two million kroner (250,000 euros, 400,000 dollars) for alleged corruption.
By Agencies |
OSLO: Police in Norway imposed on Tuesday a fine on the local unit of German engineering giant Siemens of two million kroner (250,000 euros, 400,000 dollars) for alleged corruption.
The police financial division "has fined Siemens AS and two people in the company in connection with arranging a golf trip to... Spain in 2004," a statement said.
The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime said the expenses paid for the trip for three military officials totalled about 20,000 kroner.
The two company employees were to be fined 75,000 kroner each while the police dropped their enquiries into the three military officials earlier this year.
Siemens lawyer Ellen Holager Andernaes told AFP "the company has not decided yet whether it will accept a trial or not but my advice to them will be... to have the case (taken) to court."
"That is my advice because I consider that it is not corruption," she added.
Siemens in Germany has been hit hard by charges of corruption since 2006 centering on the existence of a slush fund that was used to ensure it won industrial contracts.
The group, which manufactures a wide range of products from light bulbs to power stations and trains, acknowledged following an internal probe that 1.3 billion euros (2.0 billion dollars) disappeared into various funds.
German investigators have since determined that payments to obtain foreign contracts was a widespread practice among Siemens' multiple divisions.
The police financial division "has fined Siemens AS and two people in the company in connection with arranging a golf trip to... Spain in 2004," a statement said.
The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime said the expenses paid for the trip for three military officials totalled about 20,000 kroner.
The two company employees were to be fined 75,000 kroner each while the police dropped their enquiries into the three military officials earlier this year.
Siemens lawyer Ellen Holager Andernaes told AFP "the company has not decided yet whether it will accept a trial or not but my advice to them will be... to have the case (taken) to court."
"That is my advice because I consider that it is not corruption," she added.
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Siemens in Germany has been hit hard by charges of corruption since 2006 centering on the existence of a slush fund that was used to ensure it won industrial contracts.
The group, which manufactures a wide range of products from light bulbs to power stations and trains, acknowledged following an internal probe that 1.3 billion euros (2.0 billion dollars) disappeared into various funds.
German investigators have since determined that payments to obtain foreign contracts was a widespread practice among Siemens' multiple divisions.
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