"Pamio, 60, an Italian citizen, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the US, wire fraud, and violation of the Clean Air Act," the release stated Thursday.
The complaint stated on Thursday that Pamio has ordered his employees to create and implement secret software to pass emission tests. Moreover, the defendant and coconspirators intentionally omitted information about the software functions and gave false statements that the company's vehicles complied with US emissions requirements.
The public scandal around Volkswagen arouse in September 2015, when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused the company of using software to falsify emission test results for its diesel-engine cars. Volkswagen engineer James Liang pleaded guilty to charges of fraud by concealing emission test rigging software from US regulators. The company admitted that 11 million of its vehicles worldwide had been fitted with emissions cheating software and agreed to pay settlements totaling to $15 billion.