Ulrich Schumacher was ordered by the Bavarian state court in Munich to pay 200,000 euros ($300,000) after the presiding judge said the allegations of bribery could not be upheld in the case. Instead, Schumacher was fined because of the remaining charge of tax evasion.

Last week, lawyers for the defense and prosecution had agreed that the bribery charges should be dropped due to lack of evidence.

Judge Peter Noll ruled that half the fine should be paid to the state and the other half to charitable organizations, such as the anti-corruption group Transparency International

Schumacher had been charged with eight counts each of corruption in business dealings and tax evasion, as well as a single count each of misappropriation and attempted fraud.

Mixing hobbies with business was 'a mistake'

Schumacher formerly ran Infineon, a major producer of semiconductor chips and was accused of accepting large sums of sponsorship money from 2000 to 2003 to drive in privately arranged motor-racing events. He once attracted attention to Infineon's initial public offering in 2000 by driving a race car down Wall Street in New York.

Schumacher had told the court earlier that it has been his "most stupid mistake" to mix his hobby of racing with his business executive duties.

Infineon's management has said it is currently examining whether or not to pay out the remaining half of Schumacher's 2.6 million-euro severance package because of suspicions of falsely claimed deductions from his expense account.

Schumacher left Infineon five years ago and is now CEO of Chinese-owned Grace Semiconductor.

gb/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Nancy Isenson