The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly informed victims’ families of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft crashes that it is dismissing criminal fraud charges against the airplane manufacturer, though families plan to object to the filing.
Clifford Law Offices said in a news release that the DOJ sent a letter to families on Thursday, informing them the government agency had filed a motion to dismiss the criminal fraud matter against Boeing.
Instead, the DOJ said it filed a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) against Boeing regarding two 737 MAX 8 planes that crashed six years ago and killed 346 people.
The DOJ sent the letter as part of the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act, which requires it to inform crime victims of their actions.
Pro bono lawyer Paul Cassell, who also works as a professor at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, represents several families of victims, and they have advised U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor about their intentions to object to the DOJ’s motion.
The families were informed nearly a week after the DOJ said it had struck a tentative deal with Boeing that allows the company to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading regulators about the company’s 737 Max plane before two crashes that killed 346 people.
Under the deal, Boeing will pay out $1.1 billion, including $445 million to a fund for the crash victims’ families, the DOJ said in court documents last week.
In exchange, the DOJ will dismiss a fraud charge against the aircraft manufacturer.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to FOX Business’s request for comment on the matter.
The news release noted that the families had been asking for a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi since Feb. 6, with hopes of meeting before a final decision was made.
The law firm said the families had never heard back, as of Thursday.
“Boeing must continue to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program and retain an independent compliance consultant,” the department said last week. “We are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits.”
Last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019. The company previously agreed to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million and face three years of independent oversight.
The deal announced last Friday did not go over well with relatives of those killed in the crashes.
“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it,” Cassell said.
Boeing has faced increased scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) since January 2024, when a new Max 9 missing four key bolts had a midair emergency, losing a door plug, Reuters reported. The FAA has capped production at 38 planes per month.
Last year, the DOJ found Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement that shielded the plane-maker from prosecution.
