VW executive is arrested
Manager who oversaw U.S. emissions rules is accused of deceiving federal regulators.
Manager who oversaw U.S. emissions rules is accused of deceiving regulators on special software that cheated on emissions tests.
The Volkswagen executive who once was in charge of complying with U.S. 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 U.S. government and wire fraud.
Schmidt is the second VW employee to be arrested as part of an ongoing federal investigation into the German automaker, 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.
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 Thursday. After that he probably will be taken to Detroit, where the Justice Department investigation is based.
The complaint, dated Dec. 30, accuses Schmidt of conspiring with other Volkswagen executives to mislead U.S. regulators about why Volkswagen vehicles emitted more pollution 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, according to court documents.
Tests commissioned by the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation in 2014 found that certain Volkswagen models with diesel engines emitted more than the allowable limit of pollutants. More than a year later, Volkswagen admitted to installing the software on about 500,000 2-liter diesel engines in VW and Audi models in the U.S. Later the company said some 3liter diesels also cheated.
After that study, Schmidt, in an apparent reference to VW’s compliance with emissions, wrote a colleague to say, “It should first be decided whether we are honest. If we are not honest, everything stays as it is.”
Schmidt’s attorney, David Massey, said in court Monday that his client has assets in the U.S., or the assets of friends, totaling about $1 million that would secure his bond. He said Schmidt had been cooperating with the FBI on the emissions probe and had no intent to flee. Massey also said Schmidt was arrested while on vacation in South Florida and had no idea he was going to be charged with a crime while in the U.S.
But Justice Department prosecutor Ben Singer said that Schmidt had been evasive with regulators and told a judge that Schmidt was a flight risk.