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 settlement that shielded it from prosecution.<\/p>\n
Under the deal, 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 U.S. prosecutors\u2019 court filing late Sunday. The plea deal requires the approval of a federal judge to take effect.<\/p>\n
Boeing also agreed for the board of directors to meet with crash victims\u2019 family members, under the agreement.<\/p>\n
The plea deal offer forced Boeing to decide between a guilty plea and the attached terms, or going to trial, just as the company was seeking to turn a corner in its manufacturing and safety crises, pick a new CEO and acquire its fuselage maker, Spirit AeroSystems.<\/p>\n
The guilty plea would brand Boeing a felon and could complicate its ability to sell products to the U.S. government. About 32% of Boeing\u2019s nearly $78 billion in revenue last year came from its defense, space and security unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle on terms of a resolution with the Justice Department, subject to the memorialization and approval of specific terms,\u201d Boeing said in a statement.<\/p>\n
In May, the Justice Department said Boeing had violated the 2021 agreement. Under that deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including an original $243.6 million criminal fine, compensation to airlines and a $500 million fund for victims\u2019 family members.<\/p>\n
That 2021 settlement was set to expire two days after a door plug blew out of a nearly new 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines on Jan. 5. While there were no serious injuries, the accident created a fresh safety crisis for Boeing.<\/p>\n
The U.S. accused Boeing of conspiracy to defraud the government by misleading regulators about its inclusion of a flight-control system on the Max that was later implicated in the two Max crashes \u2014 a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019. All 346 people on board the flights were killed.<\/p>\n
U.S. prosecutors had told victims\u2019 family members on June 30 that they planned to seek a guilty plea from Boeing, a plan family attorneys called \u201ca sweetheart deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Cassell, a lawyer for victims\u2019 family members, said he plans to ask the federal judge on the case to reject the deal and \u201csimply set the matter for a public trial, so that all the facts surrounding the case will be aired in a fair and open forum before a jury.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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