A senior manager at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV was charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. after allegedly lying to regulators about the emissions control software used in more than 100,000 diesel vehicles.
The charges were announced hours after the Italian-American carmaker's German rivals Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG faced regulatory actions over their roles in an industrywide diesel emissions cheating scandal.
Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess, Chairman Hans Dieter Potsch and ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn were charged in Germany for market manipulation over the "dieselgate" scandal, and Daimler AG accepted a penalty of €870 million for "a negligent violation of supervisory duties" for using emissions cheating software in Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
According to a Sept. 24 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Emanuele Palma, a senior manager of diesel drivability and emissions at Fiat Chrysler, allegedly made "false and misleading statements" to the investigators. Palma led a team of engineers in the U.S. to develop and calibrate the 3.0-liter diesel engine used in certain Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles.
The senior manager was charged with six counts of violating the Clean Air Act, four counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements to representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation division.
According to the DOJ charges, Palma and his co-conspirators purposefully calibrated the emissions control functions to produce lower NOx emissions when the subject vehicles would be undergoing testing on the federal test procedures or driving "cycles" but return to producing higher emissions of the poisonous gases when driven in the real world.
"The defendant is alleged to have knowingly misled EPA regulators to cover up illegal emissions control software installed in certain Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles. ... We are prepared to use our criminal authorities when faced with allegations of lying and cheating to evade U.S. emissions standards," EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine said in a statement.
When contacted, Fiat Chrysler told S&P Global Market Intelligence that the company will "continue to fully cooperate with the authorities, as we have throughout this issue" and has nothing new to add to its previous statements on the matter.
In January, Fiat was ordered to pay $800 million in fines and compensation in the U.S. to settle inaccurate diesel emissions data. In May, a federal judge approved Fiat Chrysler's appeal to bring down the amount to $307.5 million.
Fiat Chrysler's stock fell 2.99% to $13.00 in New York on Sept. 24.
