French cement maker Lafarge to plead guilty to aiding Daesh/ISIS terror group

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - French cement maker Lafarge will plead guilty to US charges for providing material support to the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, according to multiple reports published Tuesday.

The announcement was made by Holcim, which acquired Lafarge in 2015, and the US Justice Department is expected to hold a news conference later Tuesday to formally announce the plea deal.

As part of its plea, Lafarge-Holcim, as the company is now known, has agreed to pay a fine of more than $777 million after its Syrian subsidiary made payments to armed groups, including Daesh/ISIS, to protect its staff in the war-torn country. In all, roughly $17 million was paid to the terror group from 2012 through 2014, according to CNBC.

Holcim said it supports the plea agreement and maintained "none of the conduct involved Holcim."

"It is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for," the company said in a statement. "Lafarge SA and LCS have accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved, whose behavior was in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct. We deeply regret that this conduct occurred."

It was referring to Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), which was Lafarge's Syrian subsidiary until it halted operations in October 2014.

A previous internal investigation uncovered the illicit payments to Daesh/ISIS and other militant groups in Syria. ​​​​​​​