A French court convicted cement giant Lafarge of financing terrorism by paying 5.59 million euros to ISIS and other jihadist groups to keep its northern Syria plant operating during 2013-2014. The Paris court sentenced former CEO Bruno Lafont to six years in prison and deputy managing director Christian Herrault to five years, while ordering Lafarge to pay a 1.12 million euro fine and confiscating 30 million euros in assets. This marks the first time a company has been tried in France for financing terrorism, though Lafarge, now part of Swiss conglomerate Holcim, already paid 778 million dollars in penalties to U.S. authorities in 2022. A separate case concerning allegations of complicity in crimes against humanity remains ongoing in France.
Court conviction and sentencing of Lafarge executives
- ▪Former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont was sentenced to six years in jail
- ▪The French court ordered 30 million euros worth of Lafarge's assets to be confiscated
- ▪Lafarge's former deputy managing director Christian Herrault was sentenced to five years in jail
- ▪The Paris court ruled that Lafarge had paid protection money directly to ISIL and other armed groups and breached European sanctions to operate in northern Syria during 2013-2014
- ▪The French court ordered Lafarge to pay a fine of 1.12 million euros
Payments to ISIS and armed groups to maintain operations
- ▪Lafarge made payments to ISIL and the al-Nusra Front during the Syrian civil war
- ▪Lafarge paid more than 800,000 euros to secure safe passage for employees to access the Syrian plant
- ▪Lafarge acknowledged in 2022 that it had paid nearly 13 million euros to middlemen to keep its Syrian cement factory running during the war
- ▪Lafarge paid 1.6 million euros to purchase source materials from quarries that were under ISIL control
- ▪ISIL and the al-Nusra Front were designated terrorist groups by the European Union between 2013 and September 2014
- ▪Lafarge paid a total of 5.59 million euros to armed groups in Syria during the war
- ▪Lafarge's plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria, was bought by Lafarge in 2008 for 680 million dollars
Ongoing legal cases in France and the United States
- ▪A French appeals court confirmed the original ruling of crimes against humanity against Lafarge after the 2019 dismissal
- ▪In 2019, Lafarge won a court ruling that threw out the charge of complicity in crimes against humanity
- ▪The inquiry against Lafarge has been running since 2017
- ▪Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid 6 million dollars to ISIL and the al-Nusra Front to allow employees, customers and suppliers to pass through checkpoints
- ▪In 2022, Lafarge saw a conviction on charges of crimes against humanity over alleged payoffs to ISIL and other armed groups confirmed by a French court
- ▪Lafarge paid 778 million dollars in forfeiture and fines as part of a plea agreement in the United States
Perspective of Lafarge/Holcim
- ▪Lafarge acknowledged in 2022 that it had paid nearly 13 million euros to middlemen to keep its Syrian cement factory running during the war
- ▪Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid 6 million dollars to ISIL and the al-Nusra Front to allow employees, customers and suppliers to pass through checkpoints
- ▪Lafarge paid 778 million dollars in forfeiture and fines as part of a plea agreement in the United States
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