The US Department of Justice said on ThursdayBoeingA former chief technical pilot for the company has been accused of defrauding federal regulators in an evaluation of the company's 737 MAX aircraft to help the company save money.

Mark Forkner (Mark Forkner), 49, has been charged with conspiring to defraud Boeing airline customers in the US and saving Boeing tens of millions of dollars.

According to the indictment, Faulkner provided the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with “seriously false, inaccurate, and incomplete information” about the Boeing 737 MAX flight control component, the Maneuverability Enhancement System (MCAS), a new component of the Boeing 737 MAX flight control component. “His ruthless choices misled the FAA, hindered the agency's ability to protect the flying public, and left pilots in trouble, lacking information on some 737 MAX flight controls.”

The MCAS system is related to the two fatal accidents that occurred with the Boeing 737 MAX within 5 months. The two accidents caused 346 deaths and caused this type of aircraft to be grounded by the FAA for 19 months, and the grounding was not lifted until November 2020.

In January of this year, after reaching an agreement with the US Department of Justice to suspend prosecution over the MAX crash, Boeing agreed to pay more than 2.5 billion US dollars in fines and compensation.

Faulkner has been charged with two charges of fraud and four counts of telecom fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate trade. He is expected to make his first appearance in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday.

If convicted, he would face up to 20 years in prison on every charge of telecom fraud and up to 10 years on every charge of fraud involving aircraft parts in the interstate trade.