Federal judge Reed O'Connor has ordered Boeing to appear in federal court in Texas on January 26 for an arraignment on a fraud charge involving the certification of its 737 MAX aircraft.
The order, which was issued on January 19, could see Boeing representatives face-to-face in court with family members of and lawyers for victims of deadly 2018 and 2019 crashes involving the aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia. It came after the manufacturer entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the US government in 2021 - a deal that was to give Boeing immunity from criminal prosecution but which family members argued against as they were not party to it.
Boeing and the US Justice Department have opposed reopening the agreement, which led to US $500 million being paid in compensation to victims, US$1.7bn to airlines and a fine of over US $200 million imposed on the Seattle-based manufacturer, which also had to pay a further US $200 million after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused it of providing misleading information to investors about the 737 MAX.
