Reports: Criminal Charges Against Boeing Recommended To DOJ After Deadly Crashes

The plane manufacturer is accused of violating a 2021 settlement related to two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft.

Prosecutors are reportedly recommending criminal charges against Boeing to the Department of Justice over allegations that the plane manufacturer violated a settlement related to two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft.

Senior DOJ officials are reviewing the recommendations and have until July 7 to make a final decision about whether to prosecute the company, Reuters and CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

A Boeing spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The company has previously denied that it breached the 2021 agreement, which had a three-year term.

The DOJ’s “deferred prosecution agreement” protected Boeing from criminal prosecution over both crashes, which killed a combined 346 people, in exchange for the company meeting a number of conditions. These included the company paying more than $2.5 billion in penalties and compensation, a portion of which went to the crash victims’ families.

In a May court filing, the DOJ also said Boeing failed a requirement to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations.”