BERLIN -- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday arrested a Volkswagen AG executive suspected of participating in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in connection with the company's emissions-cheating scandal, according to people familiar with the situation.

The arrest comes as Volkswagen seeks to settle criminal allegations stemming from its admission in 2015 that it rigged nearly 600,000 diesel-powered cars sold in the U.S. to cheat on emissions tests. Volkswagen has agreed to pay up to $17.5 billion in the U.S. to settle claims with regulators, consumers, dealers and state attorneys general and could face another multibillion-dollar penalty in the expected criminal case.