Although he has denied wrongdoing, former Siemens chief Klaus Kleinfeld has agreed to pay a sizeable sum to settle a lengthy bribery scandal.
Siemens announced Wednesday that agreements had been reached with Kleinfeld, former chairman Heinrich von Pierer and four ex-board members. The execs and board members had been accused of failing to prevent corruption at the Munich-based engineering firm.
Settlement amounts weren’t officially disclosed. However, The New York Times quoted an official as saying that Kleinfeld agreed to pay €2 million.
Klaus Kleinfeld
Kleinfeld, who now heads Alcoa, resigned from Siemens after reports surfaced of a widespread company practice of bribery and kickbacks to land contracts in more than a dozen countries. He has not been criminally charged.
Corporate bribes became illegal in Germany in the late 1990s. While the scandal is primarily European, Kleinfeld’s role is of particular interest to American investors because of his position as Alcoa president and CEO.
Kleinfeld landed comfortably at Alcoa. According to SEC filings, the company paid $428,305 for “expatriate assistance” when he moved to New York, and then paid him an additional $188,245 to cover income taxes stemming from the moving reimbursement. Salary and incentives in 2008 totaled $3.9 million. His severance package is valued at more than $8 million.
Kleinfeld had served as a director of Citigroup until 2007. He resigned when he became president of Alcoa.
He sits on numerous civic and cultural boards, including Partnership for New York City and the Metropolitan Opera.
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