On the 14th, officials from the US Department of Justice submitted a letter to the federal court in Texas stating that Boeing had violated the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The Department of Justice will inform the court before July 7th whether to file a lawsuit against Boeing.
Glenn Leon, the head of the Anti Fraud Division of the Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice, stated in the letter that Boeing has not made any improvements to detect and prevent it from violating anti fraud regulations, which violates the deferred prosecution agreement reached in 2021. Boeing must respond to the government's allegations before June 13th, and the Department of Justice will consider Boeing's explanation to decide whether to file a lawsuit.
Boeing issued a statement on the same day stating that it believes the company has complied with the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement and looks forward to responding to the Department of Justice on this issue.
Paul Kassel, a lawyer for the family of passengers involved in the Ethiopian Airlines flight crash, said that the Ministry of Justice's determination that Boeing had violated the deferred prosecution agreement was a "positive first step", "but we need to see the Ministry of Justice take further action to hold Boeing accountable."
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 and reached an agreement to extend the prosecution. Boeing has agreed to pay fines and compensation exceeding $2.5 billion and promises to cooperate fully to implement compliance and improvement plans as required.
The deferred prosecution agreement will expire on January 7, 2024. Boeing needs to prove to the US Department of Justice that it has complied with the terms of the agreement, and the Department of Justice will make an assessment to determine whether it is exempt from prosecution. If Boeing commits any federal felony or fails to fully comply with the terms of the agreement during this period, the US Department of Justice has the right to decide to proceed with the relevant litigation.
At the beginning of this year, a door stopper drop accident occurred on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines two days before the expiration of the extended prosecution agreement. In March, some media cited relevant documents and sources informed that the US Department of Justice had contacted and conducted inquiries with some crew members and passengers of the flight. If the Department of Justice finds that Boeing has violated the deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing may face prosecution.