FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2015, file photo, a Volkswagen logo is seen on car offered for sale at New Century Volkswagen dealership in Glendale, Calif. The Volkswagen executive, Oliver Schmidt, who once... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2015, file photo, a Volkswagen logo is seen on car offered for sale at New Century Volkswagen dealership in Glendale, Calif. The Volkswagen executive, Oliver Schmidt, who once was in charge of complying with U.S. emissions regulations has been arrested in connection with the... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2015, file photo, a Volkswagen logo is seen on car offered for sale at New Century Volkswagen dealership in Glendale, Calif. The Volkswagen executive, Oliver Schmidt, who once was in charge of complying with U.S. emissions regulations has been arrested in connection with the... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2015, file photo, a Volkswagen logo is seen on car offered for sale at New Century Volkswagen dealership in Glendale, Calif. The Volkswagen executive, Oliver Schmidt, who once... (Associated Press) 
 
 DETROIT (AP) — The Volkswagen executive who once was in charge of complying with U.S. emissions regulations has been arrested in connection with the company's emissions-cheating scandal, a person briefed on the matter said Monday. 
 
 Oliver Schmidt, who was general manager of the engineering and environmental office for VW of America, was arrested during the weekend in the federal criminal investigation, said the person, who didn't want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak on the case. 
 
 Schmidt is the second VW employee to be arrested as the probe led by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit continues. The New York Times reported that he's expected to be arraigned Monday on a conspiracy charge in a federal courtroom in Detroit. 
 
 Schmidt's bio for a 2012 auto industry conference said Schmidt was responsible for ensuring that vehicles built for sale within the U.S. and Canada comply with "past, present and future air quality and fuel economy government standards in both countries." It says he served as the company's direct factory and government agency contact for emissions regulations. 
 
 Volkswagen has admitted that it programmed diesel-powered vehicles to turn pollution controls on during tests and turn them off in real-world driving. The scandal has cost VW sales and has tarnished its brand worldwide. 
 
 A lawsuit filed last year by the New York state attorney general said that Schmidt "played an important role" in concealing the deception from regulators. 
 
 Volkswagen said in a statement Monday that it is cooperating with the Justice Department in the probe. "It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations or to discuss personnel matters," the statement said. 
 
 A message was left Monday for a Justice Department spokeswoman in Detroit. Peter Carr, a Justice spokesman in Washington, did not immediately return an email seeking comment. 
 
 Herbert Diess, a member of Volkswagen AG's board of management, appeared in Detroit Sunday evening to introduce a new version of VW's Tiguan SUV ahead of the North American International Auto Show. He wouldn't comment when asked if some Volkswagen executives refused to come to the auto show for fear of being arrested. 
 
 "I'm here, at least," he said. 
 
 Asked about the Justice Department investigation, Diess also wouldn't comment, but said he hopes it's resolved "as soon as possible." 
 
 The company has agreed to either repair the cars or buy them back as part of a $15 billion settlement approved by a federal judge in October. Volkswagen agreed to pay owners of 2-liter diesels up to $10,000 depending on the age of their cars. 
 
 In October, VW engineer James Robert Liang, of Newbury Park, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government and agreed to cooperate with investigations in the U.S. and Germany. Liang was the first person to enter a plea in the wide-ranging case, and authorities were expected to use him to go after higher-ranking VW officials. 
 
 A grand jury indictment against Liang detailed a 10-year conspiracy by Volkswagen employees in the U.S. and Germany to repeatedly dupe U.S. regulators by using sophisticated emissions software. The indictment detailed e-mails between Liang and co-workers that initially admitted to cheating in an almost cavalier manner but then turned desperate after the deception was uncovered. 
 
 Tests commissioned by the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation in 2014 found that certain Volkswagen models with diesel engines emitted more than the allowable limit of pollutants. More than a year later, Volkswagen admitted to installing the software on about 500,000 2-liter diesel engines in VW and Audi models in the U.S. Later the company said some 3-liter diesels also cheated. 
 
 The Environmental Protection Agency found that the 2-liter cars emitted up to 40 times the legal limit for nitrogen oxide, which can cause human respiratory problems. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Eric Tucker in Washington and Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report. 

 Greenpeace and Which? welcome move by 10,000 Volkswagen owners for £3,000 in compensation as carmaker faces bill as high as £3.6bn 
 
 Thousands of British motorists have launched a lawsuit against Volkswagen over the “dieselgate” emissions scandal, in a claim that could end up costing the carmaker billions of pounds. 
 
 The group of 10,000 VW owners has filed a class action lawsuit against the German car firm, seeking £30m, or £3,000 each. 
 
 The chair of a parliamentary committee on the environment and consumer group Which? both welcomed the claim, which VW said it would “robustly” contest. 
 
 If the company had to pay £3,000 to each of the 1.2 million people who own affected cars, including its Škoda, Audi and Seat marques, it would cost about £3.6bn. 
 
 
 
 The German firm has yet to reach a settlement with British and European owners affected by the scandal, in which the company admitted using “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests, making its cars appears greener than they were. 
 
 
 
 It has not compensated British owners despite reaching a £15bn settlement with 500,000 US drivers, offering instead to fix affected vehicles. 
 
 The class action suit, which is being led by law firm Harcus Sinclair, is expected to claim that drivers should be compensated because they paid extra for what they thought were clean diesel cars. 
 
 In fact, Harcus Sinclair alleged in a statement on its website that the cars emitted far higher levels of NOx – a mixture of pollutants nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide – than stated. 
 
 According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, NOx emissions cause 23,000 premature deaths in the UK each year. 
 
 The law firm’s application for group litigation, which is free for claimants to join, will be heard in the high court on 30 January. 
 
 Damon Parker, the head of litigation at Harcus Sinclair, told the Daily Mail claimants were “angry and believe that VW might get away with it”. 
 
 
 
 “They feel that they have been left with no choice but to take legal action. We have paved the way for consumers who trusted but were let down by VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda to seek redress through our courts,” he said. 
 
 “It it only right that UK car owners affected by the scandal have the opportunity to seek compensation. We have secured funding so that those affected can bring this claim against VW at no cost to themselves. 
 
 “The group action aims to ensure that, if VW is found to have misled consumers about the environmental damage caused by their cars, they are penalised accordingly so as to discourage this sort of behaviour from happening again.” 
 
 Parker criticised VW’s offer to fix cars affected by the scandal without offering compensation. He said: “Consumers are doubtful that the fixes will lower toxic emissions. But getting their cars fixed is not enough. The damage to the environment has been done.” 
 
 A VW spokesman said: “We have been notified that Harcus Sinclair intends to bring proceedings against Volkswagen on behalf of 77 claimants in the English high court.We intend to defend such claims robustly.” 
 
 Vickie Sheriff, director of campaigns and communications at Which?, said: “Which? agrees that VW must not be let off the hook. Volkswagen customers in the UK will rightly question why US consumers are getting compensation and there is still nothing on the table for the 1.2 million owners affected in this country. 
 
 “The UK government also has a responsibility to ensure that UK customers are treated fairly. It simply has not done enough to hold VW to account throughout this scandal.” 
 
 Harcus Sinclair is collaborating on the case with other law firms, including Slater & Gordon. 
 
 Jacqueline Young, head of group litigation at Slater and Gordon, said: “VW has shown utter contempt, not just for the rights and health of their UK consumers but also for the environment. This legal action is the best opportunity that British customers will have for holding VW to account over this scandal.” 
 
 Mary Creagh MP, a Labour politician and chair of the House of Commons environmental audit committee, said: “In the US Volkswagen faces multibillion-dollar payouts to drivers in environmental fines and in compensating motorists who purchased vehicles with cheat devices. 
 
 “Last July the Commons environmental audit committee called on the transport secretary to measure the contribution that Volkswagen’s cheat devices made to meeting UK emissions standards, and use the results with a view to pursuing court action in the UK. 
 
 “In the absence of government action, it is inevitable that motorists would take matters into their own hands and pursue private action in the courts.” 
 
 The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has previously called for the capital’s drivers to be compensated, including £2.5m for Transport for London in lost congestion charge payments.
– The Volkswagen executive who once was in charge of complying with US emissions regulations has been arrested by the FBI in connection with the company's emissions-cheating scandal, a person briefed on the matter said Monday. Oliver Schmidt, who was general manager of the engineering and environmental office for VW of America, was arrested over the weekend in the federal criminal investigation, reports the AP. Schmidt is the second VW employee to be arrested as the probe led by the US attorney's office in Detroit continues. The New York Times reported that he's expected to be arraigned Monday on a conspiracy charge in a federal courtroom in Detroit. Schmidt's bio for a 2012 auto industry conference said he was responsible for ensuring that vehicles built for sale within the United States and Canada comply with "past, present, and future air quality and fuel economy government standards in both countries." It says he served as the company's direct factory and government agency contact for emissions regulations. Volkswagen has admitted that it programmed diesel-powered vehicles to turn pollution controls on during tests and turn them off in real-world driving. The scandal has cost VW sales and has tarnished its brand worldwide. In Britain, meanwhile, thousands of VW buyers just filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, reports the Guardian.