Michael Christoforakos

Michael Christoforakos ( Greek Μιχάλης Χριστοφοράκος Michalis Christoforakos ; born January 1, 1953 in Athens ) is a German-Greek manager, he was country manager of Siemens in Greece and is at the center of a corruption and bribery scandal.

biography

Christoforakos attended the German School in Athens . He studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe and received his doctorate. His professional career took him to the Siemens Group in Munich. He headed Siemens Nixdorf for six years and was sent to Athens by Siemens in 1996 to head the Greek subsidiary as CEO. He headed Siemens Hellas AE until 2007.

Michael Christoforakos is a German and a Greek citizen. He has a son and a daughter.

Investigation and extradition proceedings

The Greek and Munich judiciary investigated Christoforakos for bribes. According to the investigators' findings, Siemens is said to have bribed OTE directors and politicians in Greece for major orders from the telephone company OTE , the army and the government and secretly financed election campaigns for the two major parties, the conservative Nea Dimokratia and the socialist PASOK . Christoforakos is also charged with fraudulent offenses in connection with the security system supplied by Siemens Hellas for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens .

Escape from Greece

Christoforakos has fled to Germany. The main reason for this is likely to be that corruption crimes in Greece are imprisoned for life. Christoforakos even let his lawyer explain that he had to fear for his life in Greece : “If Christoforakos testifies in Greece, some politicians will tremble. We therefore assume that shortly after stepping on Greek soil, his life is in great danger. "

The proceedings against Christoforakos on charges of bribery of public officials in Greece were discontinued in March 2010 by the Munich District Court against payment of 350,000 euros. Another investigation for aiding and abetting breach of trust was ended by a penalty order from the Munich District Court. The 57-year-old received a nine-month suspended sentence.

Extradition proceedings

The public prosecutor's office in Athens has obtained three European arrest warrants against Christoforakos. In June 2009 Christoforakos was taken into extradition detention in Bavaria . He spent almost four months in prison in Munich-Stadelheim . The Munich Higher Regional Court has twice approved extradition to the Greek judiciary, and twice Christoforakos was successful with a constitutional complaint : The Federal Constitutional Court overturned the extradition decisions because the Greek authorities' allegations had not been adequately examined. On October 20, 2009, Christoforakos was released on bail; On November 4, 2009, the Bamberg Higher Regional Court , to which the Federal Constitutional Court referred the proceedings, finally revoked the arrest warrant against Christoforakos, as the offenses accused of him were statute barred under German law.

In 2010, Christoforakos agreed with the Siemens Group on a compensation payment of 1.2 million euros.

In November 2014, the public prosecutor's office in Athens published the indictment against the main accused Christoforakos and 63 other participants, including the former group directors Heinrich von Pierer , Heinz-Joachim Neubürger and Volker Jung . The Siemens managers are said to be accused of actively bribing public officials; the issue is bribe payments of almost 62 million euros.

Web links

• Short biography at rosenheim24.de
• Order of the Federal Constitutional Court of October 9, 2009

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Short biography at rosenheim24.de
2. ↑ Handelsblatt dated June 3, 2009: "Ex-Siemens managers on the run"
3. ↑ SZ of June 28, 2009 "Greek Knowledge" ( Memento of the original of September 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Manager magazine from June 26, 2009: "Lawyer fears murder of ex-Siemens manager"
5. ↑ Focus Magazin Online, article from March 3, 2010
6. ^ Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of September 3, 2009 - 2 BvR 1826/09 - and decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of October 12, 2009 - 2 BvR 2115/09 -
7. ↑ Former Siemens Greece boss released from prison at Heise online , October 20, 2009
8. ↑ Extradition arrest warrant against former Siemens Greece boss repealed at Heise online , November 4, 2009
9. ↑ Manager magazine of May 9, 2010 Ex-Greece boss pays Siemens
10. ↑ Focus: Greek public prosecutor accuses Siemens board members "wants administrative assistance , November 27, 2014