Volkswagen’s senior management have been warned not to travel to the US following the arrest of Oliver Schmidt in connection with dieselgate scandal, it has been claimed.

Reuters reported that legal representatives for the German brand had made the recommendation after Oliver Schmidt was arrested as he was about to fly home from holiday in Cuba.

The US Department of Justice charged Schmidt and held him without bail on Thursday following his arrest at Miami International Airport five days earlier.

Reuters reported that legal officials working for Volkswagen had warned senior employees off unneccessary visits prior to Scmidt's arrest. Sources told the news agency: “Under the constitution, German citizens can be extradited only to other European Union countries or to an international court. But leaving Germany at all could pose a risk of being extradited to the United States from a third country.”

Schmidt was among “several Volkswagen employees” who had been warned by lawyers not to travel to the United States, Reuters reported.

Volkswagen’s passenger car brand chief Herbert Diess was the only member of the brand’s senior management team to attend last week’s Detroit motor show in a move which Reuter’s sources described as “bold”.