The scandal surrounding the slush funds set up by German conglomerate Siemens, which makes everything from light bulbs to high speed trains, has just gone from bad to worse with the arrest of a top executive and an audit showing twice as much money than it had previously predicted is missing from its accounts, reports Der Spiegel.

It has also put a potentially lucrative joint venture with Nokia in doubt.

The uproar over the shonky deals looks like it will spill over into the boardroom with shareholders demanding the resignation of the company's chairman and expressing no confidence in the chief executive, reports The Guardian.

Siemens seems to have fallen victim to a culture of negligence, say the analysts.

But history tells us these sorts of claims are telling only half the story.

The only reason the truth has come out is because Siemens had to make a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Under German company law, it would not have been required to be so open.

And that lack of transparency has allowed the corruption to flourish.