Volkswagen executive to appear in Miami court over Dieselgate scandal

Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 that 482,000 of its diesel vehicles in the U.S. had been fitted with defeat device software to switch engines to a cleaner mode when they were being tested for emissions. Schmidt, in a May e-mail to the then-head of VW Group of America, Michael Horn, detailed the possible consequences if the ICCT study revealed software created to defeat USA emissions tests, including including penalties of up to $37,500 per vehicle on as many as 600,000 cars.

Notably, though, this is the first time that a Volkswagen exec has been charged with criminal behavior in the United States in relation with the ongoing diesel emissions cheating scandal.

The German automaker has agreed to pay settlements totaling to $15 billion as a result of the emissions scandal.

The FBI has arrested a second Volkswagen executive in the massive emissions cheating scandal, the federal government said Monday.

Dieselgate-related arrests have finally hit the executive suite at Volkswagen.

“I’m here, at least”, he said. Schmidt is scheduled to be arraigned in Detroit on Monday.

The diesel gate has caused severe damage to Volkswagen, as the company has been paying penalty and fines.

According to the government department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra), NOx emissions cause 23,000 premature deaths in the United Kingdom each year.

Schmidt and other VW officials repeatedly cited false technical explanations for the high emissions levels from the car-maker’s vehicles, according to the state attorneys general. The software turned on only when the engine sensed it was being tested.

A study conducted at West Virginia University and released early in 2014 showed major discrepancies between the legal emission limits and the real-world emissions of Volkswagen TDI diesel vehicles.

It later said 11 million vehicles were affected worldwide, including nearly 1.2 million in the UK.

The complaint against Schmidt, dated December 31 and signed by FBI Special Agent Ian M. Dinsmore, alleges that he participated in the cheating scandal 2012-2015, The Detroit News reported. The Group allegedly hid the fact that their diesel vehicles had been equipped with “defeat devices” to pass emissions tests, while concealing the actual amounts of harmful emissions.

Reuters reports the court filing alleges the VW management board was made aware of the “existence, objective and characteristics” of the so-called defeat devices in 2.0-liter diesel vehicles sold under the VW and Audi brands in the USA and did not share this information with us regulators. He faces up to five years in federal prison. He is still an employee of Volkswagen, based in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The automaker will spend years fixing or buying back vehicles and making investments to boost zero emission vehicle infrastructure and must deposit almost $3 billion in a trust to offset excess diesel emissions. That deal, which is expected in the next week, would likely see one of VW’s corporate entities pleading guilty to charges.