Boeing Co.'s Chief Executive W. James McNerney Jr has told Congress that a recent 615 million U.S. dollar settlement with the government over ethical lapses was tough but fair, The Washington Post report on Wednesday.

Since Boeing admitted to illegally hiring a high-ranking Air Force official and to having Lockheed Martin Corp.'s proprietary documents during a bidding for business competition, the company has implemented a robust ethics program, McNerney told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday, the report said.

"We aspire to do more than just stay out of trouble," the report quoted McNerney as saying. He added that the company, the Pentagon's second-largest contractor, was attempting to move beyond this "dark cloud" in its history.

But as McNerney was trying to showcase Boeing's reforms, Paul J. McNulty, deputy attorney general, acknowledged in a talk with Senator John McCain that the company's hiring of another former Air Force official was under investigation, the report said.

"Did this person discuss employment with Boeing while he was still with the Air National Guard?" McCain asked.

"It is a matter of ongoing criminal investigation," McNulty said, declining to name the Air Force official. Boeing's McNerney also declined to name the official but said he no longer worked for the company.

Source: Xinhua