Ex-Siemens manager convicted in bribery case

A Munich court on Monday ordered Reinhard Siekaczek to paya fine of 108,000 euros (85,000 pounds) and gave him asuspended sentence of two years in prison.

SIEMENS (SIE.XE)has been grappling for more than a year withallegations that it bribed its way into contracts around theworld to the tune of at least 1.3 billion euros, according toits own tally of suspect payments booked as fees.

Siekaczek, a former sales manager at Siemens' telecomsdivision, has cooperated with the authorities and admitted tobuilding a system of slush funds.

He told the court he later tried to stop the systematicbribery but top managers failed to act.

Siemens shares slipped 0.9 percent 72.91 euros by 9 a.m.British time, in line with the German blue-chip DAX index.

The trial of Siekaczek is the result of a years-longinvestigation by Munich prosecutors, one of several bodiesworldwide that are probing activities at Siemens.

The affair has already cost the jobs of Siemens' ex-ChiefExecutive Klaus Kleinfeld and ex-CEO and Chairman Heinrich vonPierer, who are not accused of wrongdoing, and has led to anupheaval of corporate culture and structures.

Siemens' own and other investigations into a suspectedorganised bribery system at its former telecoms unit havewidened to include Siemens' transportation and power units,among others.

They may also result in Europe's biggest engineeringgroup's being banned from bidding for certain U.S. contracts.

(Reporting by Jens Hack and Nicola Leske; Editing by EricaBillingham)