In the exhaust gas scandal of the car manufacturer Fiat Chrysler, a suspected manager was arrested for the first time in the United States. The man is accused of being part of a conspiracy to deceive authorities, customers and the public about the true emissions of diesel cars. This is clear from court documents.
According to a justice spokesman, the manager was arrested at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He should still be presented to the competent judge during the course of the day.
The accused should be from 2007 initially in a leading position at a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler and then in the Italian-American car company for diesel technology responsible. According to the indictment, he is charged with, among other things, violations of the Clean Air Act, fraud and misrepresentations to supervisory authorities.
Fiat Chrysler has been accused by the US authorities of manipulating exhaust emissions from diesel vehicles with special software ("defeat device"). The group denied this, but accepted in January but a total of about 800 million dollar expensive settlement to settle complaints of the US government and numerous car owners. In April, Fiat Chrysler accepted a $ 110 million payment in another lawsuit.
The case is reminiscent of the actions of US prosecutors in the "diesel gate" scandal of the German auto giant Volkswagen. In early 2017, a former VW manager was arrested for similar allegations and later sentenced to several years in prison.
