The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Schmidt on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with the automaker's emissions cheating scandal, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The arrest was first reported by the New York Times.

Schmidt headed the company's regulatory compliance office in the U.S. from 2014 to March 2015, and was arrested on Saturday in Florida.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Joe White and Georgina Prodhan)