“French cement company Lafarge pleads guilty to conspiring to support the Islamic State” titre The Wall Street Journal this October 18. “Lafarge will pay $778 million in a case that the Justice Department says marks the first time its prosecutors have sued a company for supporting a terrorist organization” adds daily business as a subtitle.
The company admitted in federal court in New York that it and its former Syrian subsidiary were guilty of“having paid the Islamic State as well as an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group to protect its cement factory in Syria”, says the New York newspaper. These payments took place from August 2013 to October 2014.
Agreement with Daesh
The case revealed “corporate crime of unprecedented darkness” said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
“In the midst of a civil war, Lafarge made the unthinkable choice to put money in the hands of Daesh […] ”, also accused Breon Peace, federal prosecutor, quoted by the Financial Times.
“He did this not only to obtain permission to operate his cement factory – which would have been bad enough – but also to make an economic profit from his relationship with Daesh, which he expected would harm his competitors in exchange for a piece of the pie.”
According to federal authorities, Lafarge had entered into a “revenue sharing agreement” with Daesh which, by blocking imports of Turkish cement into areas under its control and taxing competing supply, would have allowed the French to increase its prices. , explains the British economic newspaper.
“As other multinationals left the country, Lafarge made the calculated decision to stay” remember The New York Times which had shown in 2018 how the company, which has been part of the Swiss group Holcim since 2015, had “pushing the limits”based on French court documents.
In France, Lafarge was indicted for complicity in crimes against humanity. A charge that the company rejects, recalls the Financial Times.