Apparently Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) knew about problems with batteries on its 787 Dreamliner before that trouble became public, and probably before its was disclosed to many of its airline customers.

If this is true, Boeing could be open to fraud lawsuits and an attempt by large carriers to get back some of what they paid for the new airline. A lack of disclosure also could cause severe sanctions from the U.S. government and officials in nations outside America.

The New York Times reports:

Even before two battery failures led to the grounding of all Boeing 787 jets this month, the lithium-ion batteries used on the aircraft had experienced multiple problems that raised questions about their reliability.

Officials at All Nippon Airways, the jets’ biggest operator, said in an interview on Tuesday that it had replaced 10 of the batteries in the months before fire and smoke in two cases caused regulators around the world to ground the jets.

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