Cisco sues ex-clients

Cisco Systems is suing two ex-customers in a lawsuit that would put a soap opera to shame.

Claiming that two former Cisco salesmen made death threats, practised extortion and took kickbacks, the US customers have defaulted on loans from Cisco to buy its networking equipment.

Cisco is demanding repayment of more than $50m from one customer and $239,000 from the other.

The company has co-operated fully with an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into allegations that the former salesmen took $2.5m each in improper commissions.