U.S. Justice Department fines Boeing 2.5 bln USD for coverup over 737 Max crashes

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday that Boeing has agreed to pay more than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars to resolve a criminal charge related to a conspiracy to defraud regulators over the 737 MAX crashes.

"The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world's leading commercial airplane manufacturers," said David P. Burns, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's criminal division.