The website MSNBC carried the story that more than 100 former employees were being investigated for offering “watches and business suits worth up to €2500” to purchasing officers at German retail chains, including Saturn and Media Markt.

MSNBC quoted the prosecutor, Rüdiger Bagger, as saying, “there is clear evidence of people offering these sort of bribes”, and Peter von Bloomberg of TI Germany, who stated, “This shows a low awareness among the retail staff about corruption.”

Reuters reported a comment from Philips Deutschland spokesman Klaus Petri: “The authorities are not blaming Philips; they are investigating individuals, all of whom are former employees,” he said. “The investigated business practices are totally against Philips’ principles.” Reuters also noted that at the time of the alleged offences, between 2000 and 2002, the current CEO of the Danish brewer Royal Unibrew, Poul Moeller, was in charge of German appliances business for Philips. Reuters could not confirm if he was a suspect in the case.

The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine carried an in-depth article, quoting an unnamed German corruption expert who noted that the case cannot be considered a scandal, because a scandal is something beyond the norm. “Corruption,” he remarked, “is something very usual in Germany.”