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DETROIT, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior ex-official of Volkswagen in the United States has been arrested on fraud charges in diesel emissions probe, it is reported Monday.
Oliver Schmidt, who headed Volkswagen's regulatory compliance office in the United States from 2014 to March 2015, appeared in court in Detroit on Monday after being arrested, according to The New York Times.
Schmidt and other Volkswagen executives have been accused of covering the automaker's emissions fraud from U.S. regulators in a scandal dubbed "Dieselgate" by media.
According to lawsuits filed against Volkswagen, Schmidt gave made-up technical explanations for over-standard emissions of the company's diesel vehicles ever since late 2014.
The Volkswagen Group acknowledged in September 2015 that they designed the "defeat device" to allow the vehicles to pass emissions tests.
The arrest of Schmidt has brought the case into the executive ranks.
