A second arrest in the United States has been made over the “defeat device” Volkswagen emissions scandal, following the company’s admission in September 2015 that it had cheated emissions laws.
The New York Times reports that Oliver Schmidt, Volkswagen’s former head of compliance in the US, was arrested was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on Saturday. He is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States for his role in the scandal.
Schmidt is the second US employee at the car maker to be arrested, and the first executive, following James Liang, a former engineer, who pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges last September.
Schmidt was head of compliance between 2014 and March 2015, notes The Guardian.
Volkswagen said that it would be inappropriate to comment directly on the case, but it was continuing to “cooperate with the Department of Justice as we work to resolve remaining matters in the United States”.
The company made the admission in September 2015 that it had installed “defeat device” software on 11 million vehicles worldwide, designed to cheat laboratory emissions tests.