NEW YORK, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and its affiliate Pemex-Refinacion (PREF) have filed a lawsuit in New York seeking to recover nearly $160 million from German multinational Siemens and South Korea's SK Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (SKEC) in a global bribery case.

According to the amended lawsuit, filed May 8, 2013 in U.S. District Court (case number 12 Civ. 9070 [LLS] ECF), Siemens and SKEC allegedly submitted an unrealistically low bid in 1996 to win a public contract for modernizing a Pemex refinery in Cadereyta, Mexico.

"Pemex takes allegations of corruption seriously and has zero tolerance for bribery or fraud as a method of doing business," said Diaz Reus Partner Carlos Gonzalez.

On December 15, 2008, Siemens pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and agreed to pay a precedent-setting $1.6 billion penalty to U.S. and European authorities to settle charges that it routinely used bribes and slush funds to secure massive public works contracts around the world, including refinery modernization projects in Mexico.

Based in Seoul, Korea, SKEC is a multinational conglomerate with operations in the energy, housing, architectural, infrastructure, and telecommunications sectors. Several officers of SKEC were imprisoned in Korea in 2003 due to irregularities in the worldwide management of the company, including corruption.

In testimony given May 6, 2013, at Mexico's Solicitor General's Office, Peter Paul Muller, Siemens Mexico's former general counsel confirmed that Siemens paid bribes to PEMEX officials connected to the Cadereyta Project cost overruns. He added that there are other witnesses with knowledge of the facts related to the lawsuit.

"Pemex intends to gather additional testimony and information related to this important global corruption case," said Gonzalez.

About Pemex
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is a decentralized public entity of the federal government of the United Mexican States. Pemex is Latin America's largest company and Mexico's chief economic engine. It is one of the few oil companies in the world involved in all aspects of exploration, distribution, and commercialization of its products. PREF is a subsidiary that processes, transports, and markets a wide range of products derived from crude oil, including gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, oil, asphalts, liquefied petroleum gas, lubricants, and other refined oil products.

About Diaz Reus
Diaz Reus represents dealmakers around the world with a focus on emerging markets. With experienced lawyers in the U. S., Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, the firm is uniquely suited to handle a wide range of complex commercial, business, and financial transactions across international borders. Diaz Reus lawyers have experience in government relations, trade, compliance, customs, tax, and immigration matters, as well as internal and government investigations, complex litigation, and arbitration matters. Diaz Reus operates offices in Miami, Florida; New York City, New York; Caracas, Venezuela; Shanghai, China; Dubai, U.A.E.; Iraq; Frankfurt, Germany; Bogota, Colombia; Panama City, Republic of Panama; Mexico City, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and an affiliate office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. For more information, visit www.diazreus.com or http://www.jdsupra.com/profile/diazreus.

CONTACT:  Lucien Proby, 1-305-251-3671, bp@probypr.com

SOURCE Diaz Reus & Targ LLP