Boeing has been criminally charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States by the Department of Justice and will have to pay a $2.5 billion fine for lying to the Federal Aviation Administration before and after the fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The Justice Department announced the charges and fine, which were part of a deferred prosecution agreement, on Thursday. The $2.5 billion includes a $243.6 million “criminal monetary penalty,” $1.77 billion that will be paid out to airlines who were customers of the plane, and $500 million that will go to a fund to help families and relatives of the people who died in the two crashes.
“The misleading statements, half-truths, and omissions communicated by Boeing employees to the…