The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Volkswagen engineers with insider trading connected to the Volkswagen-Rivian partnership, making the charges public on July 24, 2026, in a federal court in New York (TechCrunch; DOJ).

Michael Stamp and Marcus Plank, both from San Jose, California, were arrested and will appear in a federal court in Northern California. The case was filed in the Southern District of New York and assigned to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 25 years in prison (DOJ).

Insider trading is the illegal practice of buying or selling a company's stock based on important information about that company that has not been shared with the public. In this case, prosecutors say Stamp and Plank used confidential knowledge about a partnership between Volkswagen and the electric vehicle maker Rivian — a project the company internally called "Project Climb" — to trade Rivian stock and options before the deal was publicly announced.

According to the indictment, the two allegedly made more than $300,000 in illegal profits. Stamp allegedly made about $250,000, while Plank allegedly made about $50,000. A close family member of Plank also allegedly made about $12,000 (DOJ).

Rivian and Volkswagen publicly announced their partnership on June 25, 2024. Rivian's stock price jumped 23 percent that day. The DOJ's press release, titled "Two Auto Engineers Charged With Insider Trading," is available on the SDNY website, and the indictment is posted as a downloadable document (DOJ press release; DOJ indictment).

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton issued a statement on behalf of the SDNY regarding the charges (TechCrunch).

Bloomberg and Crain's Chicago Business both confirmed the charges were made public on Friday, July 24, 2026, and referred to the defendants as former Volkswagen engineers (Bloomberg; Crain's Chicago Business).

What makes this case unusual is who was charged. Insider trading cases in this federal court typically target executives, investment bankers, or lawyers — people close to the financial structuring of a deal. Engineers are not the usual subjects. The fact that technical staff had access to confidential deal details shows how widely sensitive information can spread inside a large company during negotiations, and how far prosecutors will go down the organizational ladder to pursue those who trade on it.

The alleged profits — roughly $300,000 split across two people and a family member — are modest compared to the dollar figures that usually draw attention from this court. Federal prosecutors' willingness to pursue the case at that level is consistent with a pattern of using high-visibility cases to signal that they can reach anyone who trades on inside information, regardless of how much money was made. The 25-year maximum penalty for securities fraud carries weight no matter the profit size.

The DOJ's decision to file the case in New York rather than in Northern California, where both defendants live and will make their first court appearances, signals a prosecutorial preference for a venue that has historically been favorable to securities fraud charges.

The codename "Project Climb" is a detail that likely came out of the DOJ's investigation rather than public records. Automakers routinely use internal codenames to keep upcoming deals secret within a small group of employees. Its appearance in the indictment suggests prosecutors obtained testimony or internal communications from within Volkswagen's deal team.

Whether the investigation extends beyond these two individuals is still an open question. Insider trading cases involving company insiders often expand as prosecutors look into whether information was shared more widely or whether other people also traded. The indictment currently names only Stamp and Plank, but the fact that a family member's trading activity is included in the alleged profits suggests the investigation has already reached beyond the two primary defendants.

The broader context here is that the Rivian-Volkswagen partnership was one of the most closely watched deals in the electric vehicle industry. It combined Rivian's expertise in software and electrical systems with Volkswagen's manufacturing power and global reach. A 23 percent single-day stock jump is the kind of market reaction that creates both the opportunity and the enforcement incentive: a big price move gives insider traders a chance to profit, and it gives regulators a clear signal to look closely at who was trading the stock before the news broke.