Ex-Siemens exec charged in Munich in bribery case

Munich prosecutors have charged a former top executive at Siemens with breach of trust and abetting bribery for his alleged role in a corruption scandal that rocked the German company, a court said on Monday.

Michael Kutschenreuter and two former colleagues are accused of helping the group's communications division use slush funds to win business, the court's press office said.

It did not identify the other two.

Kutschenreuter's attorney declined comment until he had a chance to review the allegations. He said he expected the trial of his client, who now lives in Dubai, to start around the end of the year.

Siemens has identified around 1.3 billion euros ($1.81 billion) in dubious payments that changed hands between 2000 and 2006.

The affair -- the biggest bribery case in German history -- has cost the company around 2.5 billion euros for investigations, fines and back taxes.

The case is largely over for Siemens, which is trying to recover damages from former top officials implicated in the investigation. The trial of Kutschenreuter and his alleged accomplices could be the last in the gigantic case.

Legal experts think the nearly 300 people still under investigation could get summary punishments. ($1=.7203 Euro) (Reporting by Jens Hack; Writing by Michael Shields)