Photo: Florin Profir
The Dieselgate situation in the USA has reached a new critical point — the FBI arrested one of the Volkswagen executives in the country on a conspiracy charge.
The executive in question is named Oliver Schmidt, and he was the top emissions compliance manager for VW in the USA. The charge that was used as a base for his arrest on Friday is a conspiracy to deceive the United States, which is not something that is taken lightly by the federal government.
Mr. Schmidt was also accused of having a critical role in concealing the company’s cheating scheme from American regulators, which did not help his situation in any way.
Volkswagen’s high-ranking U.S. executives were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the entire Dieselgate situation, and Mr. Schmidt was accused of attempting to cover up the cheating strategy to allow the automaker to continue selling its “dirty” diesel models.
According to The New York Times, Mr. Schmidt attempted to convince American regulators that technical issues caused the excess emissions of the diesel models made by Volkswagen. The situation occurred when a 2014 study made by the West Virginia University raised concerns about those engines and their emissions after a test was done on the road.
The arrest comes after Volkswagen has already agreed to buy back or repair all of the affected 2.0-liter TDI models it sold in the USA with a defeat device, and on top of the fines it will pay to the American government.
Volkswagen representatives have refused to comment the arrest of one of the company’s executives, but have confirmed that they continue to cooperate with the government to resolve the situation with the cheating diesel models.
It is worth noting that another Volkswagen employee, an engineer named James Liang, who used to work for the company at one of its offices in California, pleaded guilty last September to charged that included conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act, but he was not arrested. This investigation will probably continue until the government decides what kind of penalties to impose on Volkswagen.
Mr. Schmidt was also accused of having a critical role in concealing the company’s cheating scheme from American regulators, which did not help his situation in any way.
Volkswagen’s high-ranking U.S. executives were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the entire Dieselgate situation, and Mr. Schmidt was accused of attempting to cover up the cheating strategy to allow the automaker to continue selling its “dirty” diesel models.
According to The New York Times, Mr. Schmidt attempted to convince American regulators that technical issues caused the excess emissions of the diesel models made by Volkswagen. The situation occurred when a 2014 study made by the West Virginia University raised concerns about those engines and their emissions after a test was done on the road.
The arrest comes after Volkswagen has already agreed to buy back or repair all of the affected 2.0-liter TDI models it sold in the USA with a defeat device, and on top of the fines it will pay to the American government.
Volkswagen representatives have refused to comment the arrest of one of the company’s executives, but have confirmed that they continue to cooperate with the government to resolve the situation with the cheating diesel models.
It is worth noting that another Volkswagen employee, an engineer named James Liang, who used to work for the company at one of its offices in California, pleaded guilty last September to charged that included conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act, but he was not arrested. This investigation will probably continue until the government decides what kind of penalties to impose on Volkswagen.
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