French company pleads guilty of supporting terrorist groups in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Lafarge, a global building materials manufacturer, and its subsidiary pleaded guilty on Tuesday of conspiring to provide material support for terrorist organizations in northern Syrian.
US Department of Justice said Lafarge used to provide terrorist groups including Islamic State Organization (ISIS) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) from 2013 to 2014 with material support and resources.
“Lafarge S.A., headquartered in Paris, and Lafarge Cement Syria, headquartered in Damascus, conspired to pay ISIS and HTS in exchange for permission to operate a cement plant in Syria,” the Department added.
US District Judge William Kuntz II sentenced the “defendants to terms of probation and to pay financial penalties, including criminal fines and forfeiture, totaling $777.78 million,” according to the department.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “The defendants partnered with ISIS, one of the most brutal terrorist organizations the world has ever known, to enhance profits and increase market share — all while ISIS engaged in a notorious campaign of violence during the Syrian civil war.
“Lafarge has admitted and taken responsibility for its staggering crime,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York.
In September 2021, France’s highest court overturned a previous ruling to drop charges against the company for complicity in crimes against humanity during its work in Syria.
Lafarge had previously admitted in a formal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary was paying “armed groups” to allow the continuation of its work in Syria after 2011, but several charges against it were dismissed after an investigation by the French judiciary.