(Bloomberg) -- A veteran Volkswagen AG engineer pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud U.S. regulators and customers, the first criminal charge in the Justice Department’s year-long investigation into the company’s rigging of federal air-pollution tests.

The engineer, James Liang, who entered his plea in Detroit federal court on Friday, is cooperating with the investigation, increasing pressure on higher-ranking officials of the company. His lawyer said that Liang was “one of many at Volkswagen” involved in the scheme.

Although the company has already agreed to settlements that may total $16.5 billion to get 482,000 emissions-cheating diesel cars off U.S. roads., the Justice Department is continuing its criminal inquiry into the company’s manipulation of emissions systems.

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