German authorities said Friday they have filed bribery charges against a former executive at German truck and machinery maker MAN SE, according to AP. The former head of the MAN Turbo AG unit, Heinz Juergen Maus, is accused of arranging the payment of a ¤9 million ($13.3 million) bribe under the guise of a «market entry fee» to secure a gas pipeline modernization contract in Kazakhstan in 2004. Meanwhile, the company named interim head Georg Pachta-Reyhofen as its permanent chief executive. He became interim CEO after Hakan Samuelsson stepped down from the post last month. The head of the MAN Diesel division, Pachta-Reyhofen will formally step into his new role on Jan. 1. Prosecutors in the investigation into Maus alleged that «because of the bribe MAN Turbo AG received the contract for the complete construction of the gas turbine compressor station,» the Munich state court said in a statement. Maus, 65, retired in 2007, and it was not clear where he currently lives. MAN SE spokesman Andreas Lampersbach declined to comment. «Mr. Maus has not been an employee of MAN for two years so we can"t make any statement because the charges are regarding a private individual,» he said by telephone from MAN"s headquarters in Munich. The announcement of the charges comes the day after MAN agreed to pay nearly ¤150.6 million in fines over alleged corruption. Half of that related to MAN Turbo AG and the other half to the company"s truck division. It said that in addition to the fines, MAN would also be paying tax arrears payment of around ¤20 million. Thursday"s agreement marked the end of investigations into the company itself but not of individuals suspected of corruption. MAN _ which is around 30 percent held by Volkswagen AG, Europe"s largest automotive group _ offered an amnesty to employees willing to provide information and created a new compliance department. The company said in a statement that its own internal investigation, which concluded Friday, showed «suspicious payments totaling ¤51.6 million.» The investigation showed that employees at the truck division and MAN Turbo division «breached statutory and company regulations by making suspicious payments to advisers and agents.» It said it had turned about 80 suspicious cases, as well as the findings of the amnesty program over to the prosecutor"s office. «MAN is examining whether it will sue individuals for damages,» the company said. In a separate statement, the company said MAN Diesel will merge with MAN Turbo at the beginning of next year. MAN Diesel builds large-bore diesel motors for ships and power plants; the turbo division makes compressors and turbines.
