Ex-VW exec charged with conspiracy, wire fraud in emissions test scandal
DETROIT — The Volkswagen executive once in charge of U.S. emissions compliance was arrested over 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 with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and wire fraud. Schmidt, 48, a resident of Germany, is the second VW employee arrested in an ongoing federal investigation into VW, which has admitted it programmed dieselpowered vehicles to turn pollution controls on during tests and to turn them off in real-world driving. The scandal has cost VW sales and tarnished its brand worldwide.
Schmidt was ordered held yesterday at a hearing in Miami, where prosecutors argued that he posed a flight risk. He faces another hearing Thursday. After that he likely 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 their vehicles emitted higher emissions on the road than during tests. Schmidt “offered reasons for the discrepancy” other than purposeful cheating on emissions tests through illegally installed software, court documents say.
Tests by the International Council on Clean Transportation in 2014 found certain Volkswagen models with diesel engines exceeded allowable pollutant limits. Volkswagen later admitted to installing the software on 2-liter and 3-liter diesel engines in VW and Audi models in the U.S.