DOJ fines Boeing over $2.5 billion, charges it with fraud conspiracy over 737 Max crashes.
The Department of Justice on Thursday said Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to resolve criminal charges stemming from crashes of its best-selling 737 Max airplanes.
“The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers,” Acting Assistant Attorney General David P. Burns of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, wrote in a release. “Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception.”
Boeing shares were down about 2% in afterhours trading after the news broke.