ATHENS, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - A judge probing alleged kickbacks by Siemens to Greek politicians and corporate bigwigs to secure a giant contract will question a former company official in Germany, a legal source said Wednesday.

Nikos Zagorianos will go to Munich after getting the go-ahead from German authorities to grill Reinhard Siekaczek, a former Siemens manager, who got a two-year suspended sentence and a fine on July 28 following a probe.

The paybacks scandal has rocked Greece for several months and both the ruling party of Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis and the main opposition socialists are accused of accepting slush funds.

A former official of the main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) admitted in June to having accepted one million German marks (around 790,000 dollars, 420,000 euros) from Siemens in 2000, when it was in power.

He said he put the money into the party fund without specifying where it came from.

Siemens is accused of bribing local politicians and officials from Greek telephone operator OTE to bag a multi-million-dollar contract before the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

OTE had gone to a Munich court last week in the first legal action taken by a foreign company against Siemens over a slush fund the German firm has admitted operating.

OTE wants the court to order Siemens to reveal details of an internal inquiry into its activities in Greece, with a view to eventually suing for damages.

Greek prosecutors are investigating a 1997 contract, which Siemens is suspected of securing by paying 75 million dollars to OTE executives. Greek politicians are also alleged to have benefitted from the German company's largesse.

The Siemens scandal erupted in late 2006 and has shaken the group to its core, tarnished its name and cost the jobs of two top executives.

The sprawling conglomerate has acknowledged that 1.3 billion euros (two billion dollars) were funnelled into various funds used to obtain foreign contracts, and that the practice was widespread across its numerous divisions.