U.S. judge orders Volkswagen executive held until emissions case trial next January

A federal judge in Detroit on Thursday ordered that a Volkswagen AG executive charged in the automaker's diesel emissions scandal be detained until his trial set for next year, agreeing with prosecutors that the German national represented a flight risk.

Oliver Schmidt, who was chief of Volkswagen's environmental and engineering center in Michigan, has been held since January when he was arrested in Miami trying to return to Germany. Schmidt is one of seven current and former executives charged in the U.S. emissions probe..

"The allegations of fraud and conspiracy in this case are very, very serious," said Judge Sean Cox of the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan. "There is a serious risk that Mr. Schmidt will not appear in this case." read more »

German prosecutor searches Volkswagen's dieselgate law firm

German prosecutors have searched the offices of the law firm hired by Volkswagen to investigate its diesel emissions test cheating, as they step up their efforts to identify those involved in the scandal.

Europe's biggest carmaker condemned the search, carried out on Wednesday but reported on Thursday, as "unacceptable in every way" and said it would use every legal step to defend itself.

The law firm, Jones Day, declined to comment. The Munich prosecutor's office was not immediately available for comment.

Jones Day was searched on the same day as Volkswagen's (VW) premium brand Audi's  headquarters were searched, in a sign prosecutors are stepping up efforts to find who was responsible for - and who may have known about - the biggest business crisis in the 80-year-old group's history. read more »

Volkswagen Proving More Reliable in Court Than on the Road

Volkswagen AG is developing a reputation for reliability -- at least in German courts.

Faced with about 2,000 lawsuits filed by German car owners affected by the diesel scandal, Volkswagen and its dealers have followed a pattern: settle cases before an appellate court hearing.

The six cases that were set to be reviewed at a hearing by appellate judges were settled, on a few occasions just a day or two before the scheduled meeting, according to court officials surveyed by Bloomberg News. The company is resolving the lawsuits when hearings are scheduled to avoid an adverse ruling that might sway courts throughout the country.

"If an appeals court is scheduling a hearing, that could be a sign the judges consider something wrong with the verdict,” said Manfred Wolf, a litigator at Senertz Schaefer, who isn’t involved in the cases. “That’s not ideal."

The settlements in individual cases come as the company continues to fight any sort of a pan-European deal for consumers. While VW reached a deal that allows U.S. car owners to claim as much as $10,000, the carmaker has summarily rejected efforts by European Union officials to come up with a similar pact. read more »