According to insiders, the US Department of Justice has notified Boeing that it will be charged with fraud, forcing the company to choose between pleading guilty and risking trial.

During a meeting on Sunday, the Department of Justice informed the families and lawyers of the victims of the two fatal 737 Max crashes that Boeing will decide whether to plead guilty to the charges by this weekend. The Department of Justice also told Boeing that the company must pay a fine and establish a corporate compliance monitor.

According to anonymous sources, the Department of Justice discussed a potential plea deal during a meeting with the families and lawyers of the victims of the two fatal 737 Max crashes on Sunday. An email shows that officials from the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice and the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas attended the meeting.

Both the Department of Justice and Boeing declined to comment.

Previously, it was reported that Boeing was in talks with the Department to resolve potential charges resulting from the two crashes that killed 346 people. The expected settlement would include the appointment of a corporate compliance monitor.

A criminal plea to the charges would mark a low point in Boeing's century-long history and a stunning transformation for a company once known for a cautious and upright culture. Boeing currently needs its defense business to offset the decline in revenue from its commercial aviation business.

The meeting took place after the Department of Justice determined that Boeing had violated a deferred prosecution agreement it reached with the government in the waning days of the Trump administration in 2021. The agreement allowed Boeing to avoid criminal charges under certain conditions.

But in May of this year, the department concluded that the company had failed to implement an effective compliance program to prevent and detect any possible violations of US fraud laws. Boeing told the Department of Justice that it disagreed with the ruling. The company announced the flaw after a Boeing plane operated by Alaska Airlines lost a panel on the fuselage during a flight in January. US safety investigators found that the plane was missing four bolts used to secure the so-called plug door, revealing a series of manufacturing and quality problems at the company, which prompted multiple investigations by government agencies and legislators.

Since the mid-air explosion, Boeing has been in turmoil. The company's stock price has fallen by about a third this year and warned that it will burn through about $8 billion in cash by the first half of 2024 due to production slowdowns after the near-catastrophic accident. To respond to the January incident, the Federal Aviation Administration limited the production of 737 Max and asked Boeing to submit a comprehensive plan to address the quality issues at its factories.

Meanwhile, Boeing is undergoing a leadership restructuring to find a new CEO to succeed Dave Calhoun, who plans to step down later this year. As part of the deferred prosecution agreement in 2021, Boeing paid a criminal fine of $243 million and admitted to hiding a key feature of the 737 Max that affected the flight control system from the FAA. The company also promised to strengthen its internal safety controls and regularly submit reports to the Department of Justice. In exchange, the government will drop its criminal charges against the company after three years.

But the recent incident of the door falling off just days before the agreement's expiration prompted the Department of Justice to consider revoking the agreement.