Mexican Media Brands
Jailed VW Manager Says He Was Coached to Lie about Diesel Cheating
Oliver Schmidt, the Volkswagen AG manager found guilty of violating U.S. emission laws, says his superiors and “high-ranking” company lawyers coached him how to lie about the cheating.
#legal
Share
Oliver Schmidt, the Volkswagen AG manager found guilty of violating U.S. emission laws, says his superiors and “high-ranking” company lawyers coached him how to lie about the cheating.
Schmidt was arrested in January and pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy and violating the U.S. Clean Air Act. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday in a federal court in Detroit, where he faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
Schmidt says he was given a list of falsified talking points to follow when he met with a California environmental official in 2015 and “regrettably” agreed to do so. In a letter to the judge, Schmidt says he felt “misused by my own company.”
At VW, Schmidt was general manager of VW’s U.S. engineering and environmental office, which handled emission certification testing. VW admitted in 2015 it had for nearly 10 years rigged some 555,000 diesels sold in the U.S. to evade emission limits.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Takata Opens $850 Million Fund to Pay Carmakers for Airbag Woes
Takata Corp. has launched an $850 million fund in the U.S. to repay carmakers for a portion of their costs to recall Takata airbag inflators that can explode when triggered by a crash.
-
The Law and Autonomous Cars
Features that enable your car to drive itself are coming to market now, but regulations to govern their performance have lagged, notes Jennifer Dukarski, an attorney with the Butzel Long law firm.
-
Report: Ghosn Kept List of Hidden Compensation
Japanese prosecutors have found a list apparently created by former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn that charts compensation the company didn’t report but he expected to receive, The Nikkei says.
