I flipped open the 2025 Cummins Magazine at 12:35 PM BST on June 18, 2025. There it was – Siemens and Cummins locked in a grubby embrace, their Vectron locomotive dripping with eco-babble about “optionality.” Thought I’d walked into a PR wank-fest, but the stench hit me like a week-old curry left in the sun. These two industrial titans aren’t partners – they’re a pair of back-alley crooks, cooking up scandals and lies. Siemens brings bribery and espionage; Cummins adds emissions fraud and staff betrayal. This isn’t a Michelin-star collab – it’s a cesspit, and I’m here to gut it.
Siemens’ Bribery Banquet (2006–2008)
Siemens kicked off with a belter – the 2006–2008 bribery scandal. They forked out $1.3 billion in bribes to bag contracts from Argentina to China, earning a $1.6 billion fine from US and German authorities in 2008. CEOs Klaus Kleinfeld and Heinrich von Pierer got the boot – Kleinfeld in 2007, von Pierer as chairman that year. They called it “systemic,” but it was a culture where bribes were tax-deductible. Tax-deductible! That’s not business – it’s a crime ring with posh ties.
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16166354]
Siemens’ Sanctions Stumble (2017)
Then came 2017’s Crimea cock-up. Siemens supplied gas turbines to Russia’s annexed land, claiming “diversion” by dodgy firms. Bollocks. The EU was furious, and they had to halt deliveries, their “reform” façade cracking like cheap china. Post-2008 promises mean sod all.
[https://en.majalla.com/2017/08/article55254207/siemens%E2%80%99-crimea-scandal]
Siemens’ Espionage Mess (2023–2025)
Fast forward to 2023’s espionage stink. US attorney Jessica Aber prosecuted Siemens Energy for spying, only to die suddenly in March 2025 – days before Siemens Mobility exec Agustin Escobar’s helicopter crashed in the Hudson in April, killing him and his family. Did I read that right or was it a Netflix series? No evidence ties the deaths.
[https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/siemens-espionage-prosecutor-jessica-aber-firms-spain-ceo-agustin-escobar-die-days-apart-what-we-know-8161430]
Siemens’ Compliance Con
Compliance? A joke. Post-2008, a monitor caught them ignoring red flags – inflated medical kit sales in China during the pandemic, a memo admitting bribery risks but doing fuck all. They sacked whistleblower Liu in 2010, calling it “mutual” – a gag job. Ethics chief Klaus Moosmayer blamed “performance,” but 114 fixes gathered dust. Tools built, never used – all for show.
[https://100r.org/2021/07/siemens/]
The Filthy Partnership
This Siemens-Cummins Vectron tie-up? A match made in hell. Siemens’ bribery and espionage pair with Cummins’ fraud and staff betrayal – both greenwashing with that loco.
The Verdict
These two aren’t partners – they’re parasites. The establishment spins their “reform,” but the stink’s unbearable. Dig into their books and history – it’s corruption and cruelty on a plate.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project