San Francisco, July 8th (Xinhua) - According to court documents submitted by the US Department of Justice on the evening of July 7th local time, Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to fraud in two serious air accidents.
On June 30th, the US Department of Justice submitted an agreement to Boeing regarding two serious air accidents, urging them to admit fraud or face criminal prosecution. Accepting the plea agreement means Boeing will have to pay nearly $244 million in fines and invest at least $455 million over the next three years to strengthen security and compliance measures. In addition, independent supervisors selected by the government will supervise Boeing for three years.
Boeing confirmed in a brief statement that it has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice. The US Department of Justice stated that it is expected to submit a written plea agreement to the court before July 19th. However, the terms of the agreement did not meet the requirements of the families of the victims. The Associated Press reported that lawyers representing some of the families of the victims have stated that they will request the judge to reject the agreement.
In October 2018 and March 2019, there were air crashes on flights of Lion Air Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines, resulting in a total of 346 fatalities. The crashed planes were both Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
In January 2021, the US Department of Justice filed a criminal lawsuit against Boeing, accusing it of conspiring to defraud Federal Aviation Administration officials and failing to fully disclose information about the aircraft's newly installed automatic flight system during safety certification. Both parties have reached an agreement to postpone the lawsuit, and Boeing has agreed to pay fines and compensation exceeding $2.5 billion, promising full cooperation to implement compliance and improvement plans as required. The deferred prosecution agreement expired on January 7th this year. Boeing needs to prove to the Department of Justice that it has complied with the terms of the agreement, and the Department of Justice will evaluate and decide whether to waive prosecution.
On May 14th this year, the US Department of Justice submitted a letter to the federal court in Texas stating that Boeing had violated the 2021 extension of litigation agreement. The Department of Justice will inform the court before July 7th whether to file a lawsuit against Boeing. Boeing stated that it did not violate the agreement.
American media analysis suggests that pleading guilty will seriously damage Boeing's reputation and have a negative impact on its ability to obtain government contracts. (End)