Lafarge is a French cement company. It was acquired by the Swiss company, Holcim Ltd., in 2015.
What happened?
Lafarge had built a cement factory in Syria in 2010. This factory was built at a cost of 680 million USD.
From August 2013 to October 2014, it paid about 6 million USD to two terror organisations – The Islamic State (IS) and the al Nusra Front – to keep its cement plant and employees safe.
The money was paid by Lafarge SA and by its Syrian subsidiary.
In September 2014, when Islamic State took full control of the town, Lafarge evacuated this plant.
The Outcome
On Tuesday, October 18, in a New York Federal Court, Lafarge pleaded guilty to giving this money to terror organisations and accepted a 778 million dollars fine.
Holcim Ltd. has said that these transactions have nothing to do with Holcim, since they all happened before the acquisition.
This is the first time in the US that a company has accepted charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization.
The company is also facing charges in France.