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The executives are expected to defend themselves on criminal charges.
A report on Kathimerini said that the magistrates Maria Nikolakea, Yiannis Fiorakis and Nikos Pipiligas have called for the former employees, who worked at Siemens between the period 1998 and 2004.
The 13 executives worked with the company, whose Greek branch is accused of bribing public officials and politicians in Greece to secure lucrative state contracts, between 1998 and 2004. Among those being called to give evidence are a former CEO, two ex-members of the company’s central committee and top managers from the firm’s telecommunications operations.
The names of the suspects were not released to the press, but it was announced that they are facing charges of money laundering and bribe-taking in connection to a contract with Greece's state telecoms operator, OTE. They have been asked to present themselves to the magistrates by June or July at the latest. There is some doubt as to whether they will cooperate and the judges are considering issuing European arrest warrants if needed.
It is doubtful whether German authorities would extradite the executives.
In 2009, a German court ruled that the key suspect in the case, former Siemens Hellas CEO Michalis Christoforakos, could not be forced to face a Greek court. He holds German and Greek passports and Berlin rarely extradites its citizens to face trial abroad.
In Greece, the judicial investigation into the allegations that Siemens bribed executives at OTE telecom to win a contract, worth almost half a billion euros, to digitize Greece’s phone network has almost been completed.
The probe into Siemens’s role with regard to the C4I security system for the 2004 Athens Olympics is on hold as magistrates are waiting for a report from experts regarding what damage the Greek state suffered as part of the deal.
(Combined Reports)
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