Second VW employee Oliver Schmidt arrested over emissions scandal
Schmidt, who was general manager of the engineering and environmental office for VW of America, was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to defraud the US government and wire fraud
The Volkswagen executive who once was in charge of complying with US emissions regulations was arrested during the weekend in Florida and accused of deceiving federal regulators about the use of special software that cheated on emissions tests.
Oliver Schmidt, who was general manager of the engineering and environmental office for VW of America, was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to defraud the US government and wire fraud.
Schmidt, 48, a resident of Germany, is the second VW employee to be arrested in an ongoing federal investigation into VW, which has admitted that it programmed diesel-powered vehicles to turn pollution controls on during tests and to turn them off in real-world driving. The scandal has cost VW sales and has tarnished its brand worldwide.
He was ordered held Monday at a hearing in Miami, where prosecutors argued that he posed a flight risk if released. He faces another hearing on Thursday. After that he likely will be taken to Detroit, where the Justice Department investigation is based.
The complaint, dated December 30, accuses Schmidt of conspiring with other Volkswagen executives to mislead US regulators about why their vehicles emitted higher emissions on the road than during tests. Schmidt “offered reasons for the discrepancy” other than the fact that the company was cheating on emissions tests through illegally installed software on its diesel vehicles, court documents say.
