Six Volkswagen executives indicted in emission scandal

The German automaker will pay a $2.8 billion penalty to resolve the criminal charges

US officials on Wednesday indicted six executives of German automaker Volkswagen in the emission scandal with the company agreeing to pay $4.3 billion in fines, a media report said.

The executives were indicted in connection with the company's efforts to deceive US regulators about the emissions standards of its diesel engine vehicles and sell those cars to American drivers, The Washington Post reported.

One of the executives, Olivier Schmidt, was arrested and charged in Miami earlier this week. The other five were still in Germany.

"Additional executives at the company are being investigated and could potentially face charges," Lynch was quoted as saying.

Volkswagen agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to three criminal counts and pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines in a settlement with the Department of Justice.

Volkswagen will pay a $2.8 billion penalty to resolve the criminal charges. The company will pay an additional $1.5 billion to settle civil claims that it violated environmental, customs and finance laws as part of its deception.

Recently, an executive at the South Korean unit of Volkswagen was sentenced to a year and a half in prison over charges of fabricating reports that came to light following the German carmaker's emissions scandal.