Oliver Schmidt
Update, 10:24 a.m. Monday: VW executive Oliver Schmidt was arraigned in Miami on o Monday afternoon will face extradition proceedings for transfer to Detroit, according to the federal court. The New York Times incorrectly reported earlier that he'd that be in a Detroit court Monday.
Original article, Monday morning:
Oliver Schmidt booking photo from the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
A Volkswagen executive, arrested in Florida by the FBI on Saturday, is expected to make an initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Monday in what The New York Times calls an escalation of the criminal investigation into the automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scandal. The case is out of Detroit.
Oliver Schmidt, who led Volkswagen’s regulatory compliance office in the United States from 2014 to March 2015, faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The initial appearance in federal court is the equivalent of an arraignment in state court.
Adam Goldman and Hiroko Tabuchi report:
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.
