Boeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud charge stemming from 737 Max crashes

Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge tied to fatal 737 Max crashes, the Justice Department said Sunday, months after U.S. prosecutors said the aerospace giant violated a 2021 Sale which protected him from prosecution.

Under the settlement, Boeing agreed to pay a $243.6 million fine. An independent compliance monitor would also be installed to oversee compliance at Boeing for three years during a probationary period. Boeing would also have to invest at least $455 million in compliance and safety programs, according to a document filed with the U.S. Attorney’s Court on Sunday night. The plea deal requires approval from a federal judge to take effect.

Boeing also agreed for the board of directors to meet with the families of the crash victims under the terms of the agreement.

The settlement offer forced Boeing to decide between a guilty plea and the attached terms, or going to trial, at a time when the company was trying to turn a corner in your manufacturing and safety criseschoose a new CEO and acquire your airframe manufacturerSpirit AeroSystems.

A guilty plea would classify Boeing as a criminal and could complicate its ability to sell products to the U.S. government. About 32% of Boeing’s nearly $78 billion in revenue last year came from its defense, space and security unit.

“We can confirm that we have reached agreement in principle on the terms of a resolution with the Department of Justice, subject to memorization and approval of specific terms,” Boeing said in a statement.

In May, the Justice Department said Boeing violated the 2021 settlement. Under that deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including an original criminal fine of $243.6 million. dollars, compensation to airlines and a fund of 500 million dollars for the families of the victims.

That 2021 deal was set to expire two days after a door plug on a nearly new 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines exploded on Jan. 5. Although there were no serious injuries, the accident created a new safety crisis for Boeing.

The US accused Boeing of conspiring to defraud the government by misleading regulators about the inclusion of a flight control system in the Max that was later implicated in the two Max crashes – a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019. All 346 people aboard the flights died.

U.S. prosecutors told victims’ families on June 30 that they planned to seek a guilty plea from Boeing, a plan the family’s lawyers called a “sweetheart deal.”

Paul Cassell, an attorney for the victims’ families, said he plans to ask the federal judge handling the case to reject the settlement and “simply put the matter to public trial so that all the facts surrounding the case can be disclosed in a fair and open forum.” before a jury.”