VW executives knew about emissions cheating two months before the scandal broke, but chose not to tell U.S. regulators, according to court papers, BBC News said.

The bosses involved include Oliver Schmidt, who was in charge of VW's U.S. environmental regulatory compliance office from 2012 until March 2015.

On Monday, January 9 he was charged with conspiracy to defraud and has been detained pending a hearing on Thursday.

He was arrested on Saturday in Florida, where he was on holiday.

Volkswagen said it could not comment on an "ongoing" legal matter.

A complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) against VW at the end of last year, accuses the carmaker of deliberately misleading regulators about cheating U.S. pollution tests by means of so-called "defeat devices".

The complaint said Schmidt and others gave a presentation to VW's executive management on or about 27 July 2015.

"In the presentation, VW employees assured VW executive management that U.S. regulators were not aware of the defeat device," the complaint said.

"Rather than advocate for disclosure of the defeat device to U.S. regulators, VW executive management authorised its continued concealment."

Separately, VW owners in the UK are seeking several thousand pounds in compensation over the scandal.