The Department of Justice announced a final agreement Friday with Boeing Co. on a record $615 million settlement that ends its three-year investigation into the aerospace company's defense contracting practices.
The announcement came a day after Boeing said it intended to take a $615 million charge, and 6 1/2 weeks after the tentative deal was first disclosed.
Chicago-based Boeing has been under investigation for allegedly improperly obtaining secret documents from military contractor Lockeed Martin Corp. in the late 1990s, using some of them to help win government contracts. A separate investigation examined the company's efforts to recruit former Air Force official Darleen Druyun while she was still overseeing contracts involving prospective Boeing deals.
The government earlier stripped Boeing of about $1 billion worth of rocket launches for its improper use of the Lockheed documents.
The financial penalty is the largest ever imposed on a military contractor.
"The outcome of these investigations sends a clear message to those doing business with the government: harsh consequences await anyone whose conduct falls short of the highest legal and ethical standards," said Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty.
Boeing's chairman and CEO, Jim McNerney, said Boeing accepts responsibility for the conduct of its former employees and is now committed to "the highest ethical standards."
The company does not face criminal charges or have to admit wrongdoing under the settlement.
Druyun served nine months in prison in 2005 for violating federal conflict-of-interest laws. Michael Sears, formerly chief financial officer at Boeing, spent four months in federal prison last year for illegally recruiting her.
Boeing shares fell $1.09 to close at $81.91 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. They are up 17 percent in 2006.
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