GREEK CRISIS INVOLVES BRIBERY OF GREEK OFFICIALS BY GERMAN COMPANIES

By: Pastor Hal Mayer

For years, German companies’ corruption in Greece has been notorious and Greece is planning to seek damages from them. Siemens is probably the largest case. Siemens used bribes since the 1990s to secure lucrative contracts and has damaged the country by overcharging it to the tune of 2 billion euros and causing taxpayers to shoulder excessive prices. Under pressure to avoid a 2 billion euro claim, Siemens paid Greece a paltry 270 million euro indemnity. To put that into perspective, Siemens raked in a 1.4 billion euro profit after taxes in the second quarter of 2015 alone. After prosecution, Siemens Greek manager Michalis Christoforakos only received ten month suspended sentence in a German court for his key part in the corruption scandal.

He also reached a deal with Siemens for a mere 1.2 million euros. There is quite a bit of anger over how cheap Siemens and its manager could escape the consequences of their corruption. The Greek parliament has also launched an investigation into Siemens and other companies. “We are living in the midst of an ‘epidemic of crime,’ at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails, it is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud. Every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life.” Ministry of Healing, page 143 Source Reference Corruption in Greece (I)\"

Taken from : http://ktfnews.com/greek-crisis-involves-bribery-of-greek-officials-by-german-companies/