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Siemens Resignation

DW staff (nda)April 23, 2008

Scandal-hit Siemens announced that Erich Reinhardt, the Munich-based concern's head of healthcare, will step down at the end of April.

The Siemens company HQ in Munich
Siemens has suffered a series of high profile resignations since the scandal brokeImage: AP

Reinhardt, who has been the Siemens board member responsible for its healthcare division since 1994, will resign from the company after compliance violations at the company's medical group were found to have taken place while under his leadership.

The company said on Wednesday, April 23, that Reinhardt was "responding to the new findings regarding compliance cases in the former Siemens Medical Solutions Group." It did not identify what the findings were.

However, in announcing Reinhardt's departure, Siemens said he was not personally involved and that his personal integrity was beyond question.

"Based on current information, Reinhardt was not personally involved" in any wrongdoing, the company statement said, referring to an audit, adding that he would continue as an advisor to the company.

The latest in a long line of resignations

Kleinfeld has been the highest profile casualty so farImage: AP

Reinhardt's decision is the latest of several resignations from Siemens' management ranks -- including that of the group's former chief executive, Klaus Kleinfeld -- which have followed the investigation into corporate bribery at the conglomerate.

The company has been rocked by revelations that managers created a slush fund to pay bribes to obtain foreign contracts and that it built up a small trade union to try to offset the power of Germany's large IG Metall union.

The group has acknowledged the existence of funds worth 1.3 billion euros ($2.1 billion) and agreed in October to pay a fine of 201 million euros to put an end to some German legal proceedings.

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