According to court documents filed Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department has formally moved to dismiss a criminal fraud charge against Boeing and has asked a judge to cancel an upcoming trial connected to two plane crashes that killed 346 people off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia, the Associated Press reports.
The deal, announced last week, will allow the American aircraft manufacturer to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before the planes crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019.
The “agreement in principle” will require the company to pay and invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, in return for dismissing the criminal case, according to court documents. Dismissing the fraud charge will allow the manufacturer to avoid a possible criminal conviction that could have jeopardized the company’s status as a federal contractor, experts have said.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, will decide whether to accept the motion to dismiss, accept the terms of the non-prosecution agreement and whether to cancel the trial. O’Connor on Thursday ordered all the lawyers to present him with a briefing schedule on the government’s motion by June 4.
Boeing said in a statement that the company is committed to complying with its obligations under the resolution, including commitments to further institutional improvements and investments, as well as additional compensation for families of those who died in the two plane crashes.
Under the new agreement, Boeing must retain an “independent compliance consultant” who will make recommendations for “further improvement” and report back to the government, court documents said.
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