Siemens plans to sue 11 former executives

Siemens, the largest engineering powerhouse in Europe, said Tuesday it plans to sue its 11 former executives including ex-CEO Klaus Kleinfeld and former chairman Heinrich von Pierer for their failing in supervisory which has cost the company millions in fines and damaged its reputation.

Siemens' supervisory board approved on Tuesday the recommendations from the law firm, Hengeler Mueller, to sue those executives who are in charge between 2003 and 2006

Siemens said those executives have breached their organizational and supervisory duties, which opened a door to illegal business practices and extensive bribery between 2003 and 2006.

The claim was the first time that a German listed company in Dax to sue its former chief executive.

Heinrich von Pierer and Klaus Kleinfeld always denied any wrongdoing in those bribery scandals and Kleinfeld is now heading the U.S. steel group Alcoa.

Monday, Reinhard Siekaczek, a former Siemens executive, was sentenced to two-year jail terms on probation and fined 108,000 euros (around 170,000 U.S. dollars) for his role in a bribery scandal of the industrial giant.