Greek ex-Siemens executive arrested in Germany

A former senior executive of industrial conglomerate Siemens AG who faces money laundering and bribery charges in Greece was arrested in Germany on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Michael Christoforakos, who holds both Greek and German citizenship, was arrested near Rosenheim, southeast of Munich, following a tip-off from the public, Munich prosecutors said in a statement.

The head of Siemens' Greek branch from 1996 to 2007, Christoforakos is one of seven former Siemens executives targeted in an investigation by Greek prosecutors. They are probing a 1990s contract the company won with OTE, the dominant national telecom operator which was then state-owned.

One former OTE executive has also been charged. All deny wrongdoing.

Christoforakos, who was arrested on a Greek-issued European arrest warrant, is fighting extradition, the Munich prosecutors said. He argues that the charges against him fall under the statute of limitations according to German law.

It is unclear when a court might decide whether he can be extradited, the prosecutors' statement added.

According to the charges, former Siemens officials allegedly paid some euro57 million ($80 million) in kickbacks to secure the deal with OTE. Three of the suspects have been jailed in Greece pending trial.

Christoforakos' lawyers argued that the Greek charges related to alleged activities that ended in 2003, and that they fell under the statute of limitations after five years under German law. However, they said he would risk a life prison sentence if tried in Greece.

"Dozens of senior Greek politicians are hanging on this case," defense lawyer Stefan Kursawe asserted in a statement. "I fear for the life of my client as soon as he sets foot on Greek soil."

However, Alfons Obermeier, a spokesman for Munich prosecutors, said there was no evidence he was in danger.

There have been widespread Greek media reports alleging that both Greece's main parties received cash from Siemens slush funds, but no politicians have been charged.

In May, the governing conservatives blocked an opposition motion for a parliamentary probe into whether any politicians were involved.

In Athens Thursday, former Socialist lawmaker Theodoros Tsoukatos appeared before an investigating magistrate on charges of bribery and money laundering in connection with the scandal.

The court granted Tsoukatos, 57, until July 1 to prepare his testimony. The charges against him concern a donation of 1 million German marks (about euro500,000 or $697,000) he says he received from the German company in 1999 and paid into the coffers of the then-ruling PASOK party.

Another 10 people _ including Tsoukatos' former police guard _ face the same charges for allegedly facilitating the cash transfer. They were also given extensions until June 2 to 7 to prepare their testimonies.

Tsoukatos was a Socialist lawmaker and close prime ministerial aide from 2000-2004.

Greek authorities are also seeking one of the other suspects in the Siemens case, former Siemens Hellas financial director Christos Karavellas, who is also believed to be in Germany.

Karavellas' wife and three daughters have been charged as accomplices, and his wife and eldest daughter, aged 25, have been jailed as potential flight risks.