Siemens scandal claims another exec.

The rot caused by the Siemens corruption probe continues to spread, as a former senior exec at the company quits his current position at Deutsche Telekom.

Lothar Pauly, a member of Deutsche Telekom’s board of management in charge of system business, production, IT and central procurement, requested Thursday that the supervisory board relieve him of his duties.

Pauly previously headed up the telecoms unit at Siemens, which is at the centre of a corruption and bribery scandal. He left the German vendor in 2005 to move to Deutsche Telekom.

No reasons were given for Pauly’s departure from the German carrier, although speculation suggests the move was to avert potential damage to Deutsche Telekom. Pauly himself does not stand accused in the corruption investigation.

Already, the scandal has caused a number of senior management figures at Siemens to leave their posts. Chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld will step down at the end of June.

Siemens itself is not accused in the probe, but last month a Darmstadt court ordered the company to pay Eur38m out of the revenues it brought in from a contract with of two subsidiaries of Italian utility Enel.

The court’s request follows the conviction of two former Siemen’s managers over the bribery allegations.

Deutsche Telekom said CFO Karl-Gerhard Eick will temporarily assume responsibility for Pauly’s tasks.