Boeing could be subject to criminal prosecution after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) accused it of violating terms of a 2021 settlement agreement.
The department said Boeing violated its obligations under the agreement “by failing to design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations.”
As a result, Boeing is subject to government prosecution for any federal criminal violation, According to the content of the letter The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Texas federal court.
The government is still deciding “how to handle this” and has given Boeing until June 13 to respond.
“We believe we have complied with the terms of the agreement and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department of Commerce on this matter,” a Boeing spokesman said. “We will engage with the Department with the utmost transparency during this process.” , as we have done throughout the term of the agreement, including answering their questions following the Alaska Airlines 1282 incident.
Boeing shares fell 0.2% in premarket trading Wednesday.Boeing shares have plunged 28% so far this year as the company’s shares continue to fall historic losing streak.
Settlement tied to Justice Department investigation two fatal accidents Involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft: Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff in 2018, killing all 189 people on board; a year later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed 6 minutes after takeoff, killing 157 people on board All died.
Boeing thinks 737 MAX problems are behind it, executives hope sunny horizon for aircraft manufacturers.So far, 2024 But the result is not so – from Door jam bursts on Alaska Airlines flight The new year has just passed five days.The incident attracted great attention Regulatory Reviews and Investigationsand many kinds of whistleblower. On top of that, the aerospace giant’s year was further impacted by: production delays on many of its aircraft.
Boeing has Agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion In January 2021, it settled charges that it deceived the Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft evaluation panel about the aircraft’s maneuvering characteristics enhancement system, which affected the flight control system of the Boeing 737 MAX.
As part of the settlement, Boeing also agreed to report evidence of violations of U.S. fraud laws by Boeing employees and strengthen its compliance program and increase compliance program reporting requirements, which require Boeing to meet with its fraud unit at least quarterly. , and submit annual reports on the status of its remediation efforts and information on its compliance program.
The U.S. Department of Justice said it “will continue to consult with the families of the victims of the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, as well as airline customers and their suggestions regarding next steps.”
This article was originally published in quartz.
