Siemens says to claim damages from 11 ex-managers

Siemens AG plans to claim damages from 11 former top managers -- including erstwhile Chairman Heinrich von Pierer and ex-Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld -- for failing to stop illegal practices and bribery at the company, the German engineering group said on Tuesday.

The supervisory board of Siemens has approved the move.

It said costs for external legal advisers had amounted to 119 million euros ($187.2 million) in its fiscal third quarter, which ended June 30.

Siemens has been grappling for more than a year with allegations that it bribed its way into contracts around the world to the tune of at least 1.3 billion euros, according to its own tally of suspect payments booked as fees.