A Paris court on Monday convicted French cement giant Lafarge and eight former executives of financing terrorism, ruling they paid jihadist groups millions to keep a Syrian plant running during the country’s civil war.
Former CEO Bruno Lafont was sentenced to six years in prison, effective immediately. Seven other former executives received prison terms ranging from 18 months to seven years.
|
|
The criminal court also fined the company 1.125 million euros ($1.32 million) for the terrorism charge, and levied a joint 4.57 million euros ($5.35 million) customs fine against Lafarge and four executives for violating international financial sanctions.
During the trial, which opened in November 2025, investigators showed Lafarge paid about $5.9 million to three terrorist organizations—including ISIS and Al-Nusrah Front—between August 2013 and October 2024. The money flowed through monthly “security payments” and raw material purchases, which investigators said helped fund the 2015 terror attacks in France.
|
|
|
|---|
Lafarge, now owned by the Swiss group Holcim, sought to keep its $680 million Jalabiyeh plant in northern Syria open despite the escalating war. The company evacuated foreign staff in 2012, but left Syrian employees behind to run the facility.
Sherpa, a French anti-corruption NGO that filed a criminal complaint against Lafarge in 2016 alongside former Syrian employees, told OCCRP the ruling is “historic and highly symbolic.”
READ ALSO: Lafarge Africa reaffirms commitment to building sustainable impact through women
Anna Kiefer, Litigation and Advocacy Officer at Sherpa, said the verdict marks the first time a French multinational has been convicted of financing terrorism. She credited the outcome to the judicial investigation and the journalists who exposed the company.
“Sherpa hopes this decision will send a strong message to companies operating in conflict zones, that they could be held accountable in court for crimes related to their actions abroad,” Kiefer concluded.
