According to sources familiar with the issue, Boeing is set to not be charged with a fraud case caused by two fatal crashes on the bestseller 737 Max Jet.
The victim’s parents were reported on Friday, and the US aerospace giant would not need to plead guilty as the US Department of Justice is considering a non-dose agreement.
Representatives from the family members of the crash victim expressed their anger and described the proposal as “morally abomination” after a tense call with a high Justice Department official.
Boeing and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The interim deal between Boeing and the Department of Justice was first reported by Reuters.
In October 2018, 189 people died when the Lion Air Flight 610 fell into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia. In March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa Airport, killing 157 people.
The second crash prompted the global basis for the 737 Max for almost two years, scrambled by Boeing to repair its reputation.
Boeing originally settled the criminal investigation in January 2021, but prosecutors accused him of violating the settlement in 2024.
However, in December, US District Judge Reid O’Connor, Texas, rejected the agreement. He cited the diversity and inclusion provisions associated with the selection of independent monitors.
Boeing pleaded guilty to conspiracy in criminal fraud charges and agreed to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million for the Biden administration’s final months, but O’Connor’s decision meant that the Trump administration had inherited the lawsuit.
Under Donald Trump, the Justice Department has been overhauled and his administration faces questions about how aggressively he is in pursuing large corporations that break the law.
Sanjiv Singh, the attorney for 16 families of the crash victims, said, “We are eager to this sudden and potential retreat from Boeing’s criminal prosecution. The nonprojection contract is morally abomination and lacks teeth to cause a fundamental change in Boeing’s safety practices.”
Boeing’s stock slipped 0.5% in New York.