France cement Company Lafarge pleaded guilty to the US charge of supporting terrorism by making payments to terrorist groups which included the Islamic State (IS) group and agreed to pay $778 million for the fine and forfeitures.
For the very first time in the Brooklyn federal court, Lafarge the french cement maker company pleaded guilty to the charges by the US of providing material support to a terrorist organization. The giant cement maker is fined to pay $ 778 million by the US Justice Department for their actions of supporting terrorism during the Syrian civil war.
The Company acknowledged that it paid nearly $12.8 million ( €13 million) to keep its Syrian cement factory running in 2013 and 2014 when all the other firms pulled out of the country. It said that Lafarge SA and its defunct subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria, “have agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations in Syria.’’
“Lafarge SA and LCS have accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved, whose behavior was in flagrant violation of Lafarge's Code of Conduct. We deeply regret that this conduct occurred and have worked with the US Department of Justice to resolve this matter.”
The Company which became a part of the Swiss-listed Holicm back in 2015 is facing charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in Paris for keeping a factory running in Syria after the conflict in 2011. According to the US Department of Justice, the company and its Syrian subsidiary actively sought the IS groups and helped them squeeze out the competition when the radical Islamists had control over large parts of Syria and Iraq back in 2013-14 and had operated a “revenue sharing agreement” with them.
The French cement maker after an internal investigation admitted that its Syrian Subsidiary paid the armed groups who helped them control their plant. And it had denied charges that it was against complicity in crimes against humanity.
In the court, Lafarge Chair Magali Anderson said that the former executives of the company, “knowingly and willfully agreed to participate in a conspiracy to make and authorize payments intended for the benefit of various armed groups in Syria.” She also said, “The individuals responsible for this conduct have been separated from the company since at least 2017.”
The Swiss Conglomerate, Holcim Group took over Lafarge in 2015 and stated that the US Department of Justice had cleared it of any wrongdoing. It said that it only learned of the allegations in 2016 and launched its probe while cooperating with the US authorities of Justice. It said, "None of the conduct involved Holcim, which has never operated in Syria, or any Lafarge operations or employees in the United States, and it is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for.”
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