French cement manufacturer Lafarge has pleaded guilty in the US to supporting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.
The firm agreed to pay a $777.8 million (£687.2 million) fine for paying bribes to keep a factory running in Syria after war broke out in 2011.
Prosecutors said it was the first time a company had pleaded guilty to supporting terrorists in the US.
Lafarge said it “deeply regretted” the events and “accepted responsibility for the individual executives involved”.
The cement maker, which was bought by Switzerland’s Holcim in 2015, said its behavior was a “blatant violation” of Lafarge’s code of conduct.
The company opened its plant in Jalabiya near the Turkish border in 2010 after investing $680 million.
But US prosecutors said Lafarge’s Syrian subsidiary paid the equivalent of $5.92 million to Islamic State and another terrorist group, the Al-Nusra Front, to protect workers at the plant when the civil war in the country intensified.
- Cement company under investigation over terrorism claims
- Cement mega merger deal in doubt
- The difficult problem of construction – making concrete green
Lafarge finally evacuated the plant in September 2014 when the Islamic State took control of the town and factory.
Lafarge had previously admitted bribes after an internal investigation. But US Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said on Tuesday that the company’s actions “reflect corporate crime that has reached a new low and a very dark place.”
“The terrorist business cannot go on as usual,” she added.
In a statement, Lafarge’s new owner, Holcim, said none of the behavior affected Holcim “which never operated in Syria”.
It added that former Lafarge executives involved in the bribery had concealed this from Holcim and external auditors.
Eric Olsen, who headed Lafarge and Holcim until 2017, resigned from his role following an investigation into Lafarge’s activities in Syria.
Mr Olsen said at the time he had not been involved in any wrongdoing and was resigning to bring “calm” to the company.
Lafarge also faces charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in France over its activities in Syria, but the company denies the allegations
Add Comment