A corruption affair at German industrial conglomerate Siemens has spread to the United States with investigations under way by the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.
German prosecutors are investigating €200 million missing from Siemens's accounts that it suspects were transferred into foreign accounts and used as slush funds for bribes to win telecoms equipment contracts.
Siemens also is conducting its own internal investigation into €420 million of dubious payments that were booked as consultancy fees over a seven-year period.
"The US Department of Justice is conducting an investigation of possible criminal violations of US law by Siemens in connection with these matters," Siemens said in its first-quarter financial report posted on its website.
"Siemens understands that the US Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division is conducting an informal inquiry into the matters at this time," it added.
Informal SEC inquiries can, but do not necessarily, result in formal investigations, under which the watchdog gains powers to subpoena documents and other information from a company.
Siemens said its business could be hurt by the investigations and that it had not made any provisions for any possible future penalties that could be imposed on it.