Former BMW employee charged with corruption

BERLIN (Reuters) -Prosecutors in Munich have charged a former senior employee of BMW with corruption and of having defrauded the German carmaker of millions of euros, a court spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The man was charged with 18 counts of commercial corruption and 33 counts of breach of trust at the expense of the carmaker, a court spokesperson said, confirming a report in German magazine WirtschaftsWoche.

A spokesperson for BMW said the company could not comment on an ongoing case.

According to the Munich court, damages to BMW amounted to 2.7 million euros ($3.06 million).

The former employee allegedly received 2.4 million euros in kickbacks between 2007 and 2015 in exchange for awarding consulting contracts.

In total, five people have been charged, including the managing director of a now-insolvent consulting firm who is accused of bribery, and aiding and abetting embezzlement.

A court spokesperson said all five deny the charges.

($1 = 0.8836 euros)

(Reporting by Miranda Murray, editing by Thomas Escritt, Kirsten Donovan)