This man is Dr Heinrich von Pierer. Until quite recently, he was Board Chairman of Siemens AG, one of Germany's best-known companies. Then he resigned amidst a corruption scandal that has already been going on for quite some time:Siemens chairman Heinrich von Pierer resigns
MUNICH, Germany — Amidst rising pressure in the context of ongoing bribery allegations against Siemens top managers, the company's long-time CEO Heinrich von Pierer has announced to vacate his present position as supervisory board chairman. However, von Pierer pointed out that there is no connection to the investigations.Von Pierer, who was CEO and President of the industrial conglomerate over most of the time the alleged contraventions have happened, announced Thursday night (April 19) he will step down as chairman of the supervisory board with the beginning of the next board meeting scheduled for April 25.
Though von Pierer always denied any involvement in the recent scandals, many observers see the move as a result of the ongoing discussions over his role in this affairs and the rising pressure to step back.
The scandal series took its start when in autumn 2006, police raided the Siemens headquarters over bribery allegations - according to the reproaches, the company in the past years had spent up to €420 million (about $567 million) to bribe potential customers in order to receive orders.
Another scandal came to daylight recently, when managing board member Johannes Feldmayer was arrested over embezzlement allegations: Feldmayer is said to have funded an 'independent' anti-union group in the Siemens works council with €15 million (about $20 million), which is a criminal
offense.