Court finds 22 guilty in Siemens bribery trial

Fourteen years after a judicial inquiry was first launched, the trial into the 1997 Siemens bribery scandal concluded on Tuesday with an Athens court finding 22 of the original 64 defendants guilty of a range of crimes, including money laundering. The sentences are expected to be announced on Friday.
The case relates to some 70 million euros alleged to have been paid by the German electronics giant and its local subsidiary to clinch a contract with then state-owned telecoms provider OTE. Ten of the original 64 defendants have died since the investigation started.
Among those found guilty by the Athens court that has been hearing the case for the past three years is former Siemens Hellas CEO Michalis Christoforakos, who was arrested in Munich in 2009 and held there for questioning rather than being extradited to Greece. Christos Karavelas, Siemens Hellas' former commercial...