The former CEO and Supervisory Board Chairman of the Siemens Group, Heinrich von Pierer, is known to be a good tennis player.
At the age of 81, he has just contested his 72nd league season and won three games in the team of the Turnerbund 1888 Erlangen - and lost two.
A completely different success is more important to him than this sporting record: The Greek Court of Appeal in Athens acquitted him and all other managers in the last Siemens bribe scandal – game, set and match.
"I am very relieved that this long dispute ended with a first-class acquittal," Pierer told the FAZ on Tuesday
Henning Peitsmeier
Business correspondent in Munich.
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In Athens it was about slush funds and an affair that caught up with Siemens in Greece 24 years ago.
At that time, Siemens employees are said to have paid around 70 million euros in bribes to get an order from the Greek telecommunications company OTE.
Three years ago, Pierer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for alleged money laundering.
At that time, the Athens court imposed prison sentences of several years on 22 former Siemens and OTE employees.
In the second instance, the Court of Appeal has now found 20 of the 22 defendants not guilty of money laundering.
In Germany, Pierer never stood trial.
In the Siemens affair, he accepted a fine for violating his duty of supervision and paid Siemens 5 million euros in damages.
With the acquittal in Greece, the case should now finally be over for him.
Pierer can devote himself to his advisory board mandates and consulting activities - and prepare for the next tennis season.