UPDATE - French cement maker Lafarge pleads guilty to aiding Daesh/ISIS, to pay over $777M

ADDS MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - French cement maker Lafarge will pay over three-quarters of a billion dollars after pleading guilty to US charges of providing material support to two designated terrorist groups, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.

"Lafarge made a deal with the devil, foreign terrorists who pledged to, and in fact did, harm the United States, its people and its national security, and they did it for profit," Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, told reporters as the Justice Department announced the plea deal.

District Judge William Kuntz ordered Lafarge to pay over $777 million in what is an unprecedented settlement in which a corporation has pled guilty in US court to aiding two designated terrorist group, including al-Qaeda's former Syrian offshoot, al-Nusra Front, and Daesh/ISIS.

Lafarge paid the terror groups from 2013 through 2014 for protection and to allow the continued operation of a cement plant in northern Syria run by Lafarge's local subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS). In total, nearly $6 million was sent to the two groups, according to prosecutors.

The payments allowed the company's employees to pass through checkpoints surrounding the Jalabiyeh Cement Plant, and the company "eventually agreed" to pay Daesh/ISIS based on the volume of cement that it sold, which executives likened to paying "taxes," according to the Justice Department.

“The terrorism crimes to which Lafarge and its subsidiary have pleaded guilty are a vivid reminder of how corporate crime can intersect with national security,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

"This case sends the clear message to all companies, but especially those operating in high-risk environments, to invest in robust compliance programs, pay vigilant attention to national security compliance risks, and conduct careful due diligence in mergers and acquisitions," she added.

Holcim, which acquired Lafarge in 2015, 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."