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The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it reached a deal in principle with Boeing (NYSE:BA) that allows the company to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about two fatal MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people.
Under the agreement, Boeing (NYSE:BA) must “pay or invest” more than $1.1B, the DoJ said in its filing in federal court in Texas, including a $487.2M criminal fine – although $243.6M it already paid in an earlier agreement would be credited – $445M for a new fund for crash victims, and another $445M on compliance, safety and quality programs.
The agreement is a blow to families who lost relatives in the crashes and had pressed prosecutors to take Boeing (NYSE:BA) to trial.
The deal still needs to be finalized, and the DoJ expects to file the written agreement with Boeing (BA) by the end of next week; the company has not yet commented on the deal.