B Mirror Report: A French court has sentenced former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont to six years in prison and former Deputy Managing Director Christian Herrault to five years for their role in financing militant groups in Syria. In addition to the individual penalties, Lafarge has been fined $1.32 million (€1.125 million), marking the highest corporate penalty of its kind in France.
According to court findings, Lafarge paid a total of €5.59 million to the Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front between 2013 and September 2014. Both groups are designated as terrorist organizations by the European Union.
Presiding Judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez stated in the verdict that the payments directly contributed to strengthening militant groups responsible for deadly attacks in Syria and beyond. The court noted that the primary motive behind these transactions was to keep Lafarge’s cement plant in Syria operational at any cost.
The court further observed that, in pursuit of economic gain, Lafarge effectively entered into an undisclosed commercial arrangement with the militant groups. This marks the first time a multinational company has been formally convicted in France for financing terrorism.
However, Lafarge and its parent company Holcim have not yet issued any official response to the ruling.
Lafarge acquired the Jalabiya cement plant in northern Syria in 2008 for $680 million. Shortly after production began in 2010, the country was engulfed in political unrest and civil war. Investigators found that the company continued operations by regularly paying armed groups.
The investigation also revealed significant expenditures under the pretext of ensuring business and employee safety. More than €800,000 was spent to facilitate workers’ transport from Manbij to the plant, while €1.6 million was used to procure raw materials from IS-controlled mines.
Lafarge later merged with Switzerland-based Holcim in 2015. In a separate case in the United States in 2022, the company admitted to paying nearly $6 million to IS and the Nusra Front to sustain its operations in Syria. It was subsequently fined $778 million in that case.
