A Volkswagen executive has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government just days ahead of a likely settlement between Volkswagen and the Justice Department:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Volkswagen executive who faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, two people with knowledge of the arrest said on Sunday, marking an escalation of the criminal investigation into the automaker's diesel emissions cheating scandal. Oliver Schmidt, who led Volkswagen's regulatory compliance office in the United States from 2014 to March 2015, was arrested on Saturday by investigators in Florida and is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Detroit, said the two people, a law enforcement official and someone familiar with the case.
After a study by West Virginia University first raised questions over Volkswagen's diesel motors in early 2014, Mr. Schmidt played a central role in trying to convince regulators that excess emissions were caused by technical problems rather than by deliberate cheating. Much of the data presented to regulators was fabricated, officials of the California Air Resources Board have said. Mr. Schmidt continued to represent Volkswagen after the company admitted in September that cars were programmed to dupe regulators. He appeared before a committee of the British Parliament in January, telling legislators that Volkswagen's behavior was not illegal in Europe.
Meanwhile, UK VW owners have filed a class action against the company, seeking at least £3,000 or more per owner.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:42AM
If he was an American executive (billionaire?) there is a 0% chance he would have been arrested.
He probably would have been asked to be part of Trump's cabinet right?
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:40PM
Nope, Trump has no interest in dealing with losers, and he would be the first one to give the guy a public dressing down. He is not afraid of shaming people for their actions regardless of how smug they are or how many zeros they have attached to their name. That's one quality of his that has endeared him to me ever so slightly over the last year and a half. The other quality I like about him is that he is not Hillary. Where I was afraid of living in Hillary's America before, I no longer fear the future.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @05:18PM
Yup. Between choosing Trump's lies and Hillary's lies, I'd choose Trump. He is a doof, whereas she could fuck your ass with a big BIG stick.
Her connections got her in above Sanders, who should have been running.