Siemens has threatened to sue a group of former executives if they do not agree to pay millions of euros in damages to the engineering conglomerate for their roles in its recent corruption scandal.

Siemens said today that it had set a deadline of November15 for seven former managers, including former chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld, to indicate that they are willing to pay compensation.

If they do not, Siemens said it would begin legal action against the executives, which also include Mr Kleinfeld’s predecessor Heinrich von Peirer.

It is pursuing its former managers for damages after the Munich-based conglomerate paid €1 billion to settle corruption and bribery charges in Germany and the US.

The settlement, the largest of its kind anywhere in the world, did not include an estimated additional one billion Euros that Siemens paid in legal fees.

The 161-year old company is suing the former managers claiming they failed to stop the bribery scandal that plagued Siemens for two years.

The company uncovered more than €1billion in suspicious payments and was accused of widespread bribery to win contracts across the globe.

According to German press reports, Siemens is claiming between €1 million and €6 million from the former executives.

Neither Mr Kleinfeld nor Mr von Peirer have been accused of any crimes and both deny any wrongdoing.

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