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Judge denies bail for indicted Volkswagen executive

Attorney General Loretta Lynch, center, with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, Acting Deputy Secretary Russell Deyo for the Department of Homeland Security, and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, speak during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, announcing criminal and civil resolutions with Volkswagen. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Attorney General Loretta Lynch, center, with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, Acting Deputy Secretary Russell Deyo for the Department of Homeland Security, and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, speak during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, announcing criminal and civil resolutions with Volkswagen. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By Associated Press January 12, 2017 1 min read

MIAMI (AP) – A judge has denied release on bail for a Volkswagen AG executive indicted in the company’s U.S. emissions scandal.

A Miami federal judge ruled Thursday that 48-year-old Oliver Schmidt was too great a risk to flee to Germany, where prosecutors said the U.S. could not extradite him. Five other Volkswagen executives have also been charged in an indictment released Wednesday in Detroit.

Schmidt’s attorneys said they will try again to obtain his release on bond before a judge in Detroit, where the case will be tried.

The charges of conspiracy and fraud against Schmidt are part of the government case against VW for knowingly selling diesel vehicles that didn’t meet U.S. emissions standards. The company itself has agreed to plead guilty and pay a record $4.3 billion criminal penalty.