Cash will go to airlines that bought the danger jets, victims’ fund
Boeing has agreed to settle a criminal charge that it conspired to commit fraud by deceiving federal aviation officials by withholding safety information about its 737 Max control systems. The US Department of Justice on Thursday announced the deferred prosecution deal, which imposes obligations that Boeing must meet over the next three years in order to avoid future criminal prosecution. The deal calls for the US aircraft maker to pay over $2.5bn in penalties and compensation payments to companies that bought the planes and to the heirs, relatives, and beneficiaries of the 346 passengers killed in two 737 Max crashes. Of the $2.5bn, $1.77bn has been set aside for Boeing’s 737 Max airline customers, $500m will go to the crash-victim beneficiary fund, and $243.6m goes to the government to settle the criminal penalty. Unlike many corporate settlement agreements where the defendant admits no wrongdoing, Boeing must acknowledge and accept the government’s criminal fraud charge. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. « The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David Burns of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in a statement.
