VW chief met FBI over emission scam, obtained guarantees:Reports

Volkswagen chief Herbert Diess met FBI investigators over the diesel emissions cheating scandal and secured guarantees from Washington days before US authorities indicted his predecessor, German media reported today.

Diess reportedly travelled to the United States on May 1 and gave statements to investigators from the FBI and justice department that are "apparently rated as incriminatory" for ex-VW chief Martin Winterkorn, Bild daily said, quoting unnamed sources.

Winterkorn's indictment on May 3 has brought the US criminal case to the top echelons of Volkswagen, which pleaded guilty last year to lying to American environmental regulators about emission control systems.

Winterkorn faces four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and wire fraud.

American prosecutors say Winterkorn knew of the company's emissions cheating as early as May 2014 but decided to continue with the fraud, the Justice Department said in a statement.

While Winterkorn cannot leave Germany due to the threat of an arrest on an international warrant, Diess has managed to obtain assurances that he is free to travel to the US and elsewhere, German media reported.

First charges filed in probe over alleged Russia meddling in 2016 US polls

The investigation into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election will enter a new phase as early as Monday, when the first charges resulting from the probe could be unsealed and a target taken into custody.

A federal grand jury approved the indictment on Friday and a federal judge ordered it sealed, a source briefed on the matter has told Reuters, adding it could be unsealed as soon as Monday.

The indictment could mark a dramatic turn in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 race and any possible links with officials from President Donald Trump’s campaign.

The Russia investigation has cast a shadow over Trump’s 9-month-old presidency and widened the partisan rift between Republicans and Democrats.

US intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia interfered in the election to try to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton by hacking and releasing embarrassing emails and disseminating propaganda via social media to discredit her.

Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been looking into possible links between Trump aides and foreign governments, as well as potential money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crimes, according to sources familiar with the probe. He also is exploring whether Trump or his aides have tried to obstruct the investigation.

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