Oliver Schmidt jailed for seven years for Volkswagen emissions scam

• Judge in Detroit imposes $400,000 fine on former VW executive
• German was arrested trying to return home from holiday in Florida

A senior Volkswagen executive was sentenced to seven years in prison by a US court on Wednesday after being found guilty of concealing software used to evade pollution limits on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.

Oliver Schmidt, a German national who was the general manager in charge of VW's environmental and engineering office in Michigan, had pleaded guilty to his part in the cover-up and argued he was "misused" by VW in its attempts to circumvent US emissions tests.