Boeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud charge, avoids trial

Boeing has agreed to a plea deal to avoid a trial over a criminal fraud trial the company was facing. The trial would have levied allegations of criminal fraud against the company – but by pleading guilty, Boeing has avoided going to trial. The threat of a trial came from Boeing violating its $2.5 billion settlement agreement, following two serious crashes in 2019. The two crashes, one in October 2018 involving Indonesia’s Lion Air and another a month later involving Ethiopian Airlines, killed the 346 people on board both flights. Boeing agreed to pay $2.1 billion in a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice (DOJ), which included $500 million to a victims fund and a $243 million criminal penalty. In May, Boeing was ruled to have breached the terms of the agreement. Boeing’s new plea deal, which still requires approval from a federal judge, includes a $487.2 million fine (double the statutory maximum fine) and a $455 million investment in its safety and compliance programmes. Boeing has acceded to a probation period which would include independent monitoring of its safety and quality procedures for the next three years. Boeing will also allow the Court to determine the restitution amount for the families “in its discretion”. The filing notes that the families of the victims of the two crashes made clear that they would oppose any and or plea agreements. Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing several affected families, described the agreement to several media outlets as a “sweetheart deal”, which “fails to recognise that because of Boeing’s conspiracy, 346 people died. ""Through crafty lawyering between Boeing and DOJ, the deadly consequences of Boeing’s crime are being hidden."" Cassell also urged the Judge involved in reviewing the plea to “reject this inappropriate plea and simply 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”.