GERMAN investigators have stumbled on more startling revelations on the bribery scandal rocking the telecommunication giant, Siemens AG.
Reports indicated that the initial amount involved in the fraud could indeed be a tip of the iceberg.
Parts of the funds involved in the scandal have been traced to bank accounts in Switzerland and Austria.
According to EE Times Europe, an online publication based in Germany, in its issue on Friday, investigators now talk about sums of �200m ($256m).
It also said two more suspects had been arrested.
While initial reports about the scandal talked about sums of about �20m, the law enforcement agencies now mention much higher sums.
In a press release issued Wednesday (Nov. 22), the office of the Munich senior prosecutor said the police so far had found evidence that the sum was at least �200m.
Four former Ministers of Communications: Chief Cornelius Adebayo; Maj-Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju; Haruna Elewi and Dr. Mohammed Bello, as well as Senator Jibril Aminu, who were named in the scandal, had denied their involvement.
Also named in the alleged scam from Nigeria are top officers of NITEL; Immigration and several political office holders, whose identities are not yet disclosed.
Each of the persons allegedly collected between 50,000 and 1,064,000 euros as bribes.
A total of 10m euros reportedly came to Nigerian officials as bribes in the scandal.
President Umaru Yar�Adua has promised the full weight of the law on anyone who might be found guilty over the bribe scandal.
Already, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission has sent a letter to the German authorities seeking further information on the matter.
Some individuals and organisations have also called for a thorough probe of the allegations.
Reports said two more employees of the Siemens communications division had been arrested.
However, their names and positions in the Siemens hierarchy were still being kept secret so as not to jeopardise investigations.
The general belief was that the latest sum might not be the final amount involved in the scandal, which had generated global attention since it broke in March this year.
The prosecutor�s office said the police had seized more than 36,000 ring binders and that it would take more time to sift through them.
There were claims that the suspects had acted in concert.
According to reports, �100m was reportedly transferred to a bank account in Salzburg, Austria.
Another �70m was moved illegally via an account in Innsbruck, also in Austria.
Besides, between �30m and �40m were said to have been found in a Swiss bank account.
The money in the said �black accounts� was destined to bribe customers in several countries.
According to the reports, the bank records indicate Siemens� customers in Greece, Syria and Nigeria.
The Siemens board obviously was informed about related police investigations in Switzerland about a year ago.
The company reacted by mandating an external law firm to take the duties of an Ombudsman and collect related information from employees.
The company had issued a press release promising to support the investigations.
Siemens had revealed on Thursday, Nov. 8, that an internal probe had uncovered questionable transactions totalling 1.3 billion euros ($1.9 billion) — nearly three times the amount previously estimated.
Siemens has already dismissed 140 employees and an additional 330 received penalties of other kinds, CEO Peter L�scher said.
�We are glad that we have taken another important step in clearing up the past,� he said. �We have to do business as well and as cleanly as we can.�
External auditors had found questionable sums totalling more than 1 billion euros in August, but Siemens refused to comment at that time, saying their internal probe was still underway.
Most of the money was reported to have disappeared into secret bank accounts for use as bribes in securing contracts outside Germany, the Munich-based conglomerate said.
As at last week, Siemens had identified 1.3bn as suspicious transactions in different parts of the world between 2003 and 2006.