French company pleads guilty to paying ISIS terror group to keep plant running

2022-10-20

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, far left, said the company ignored violence “to enhance profits and increase market share.” Credit...Dakota Santiago for The New York Times

A French company pleaded guilty to paying terror groups, including the Islamic State, $6 million to keep a lucrative cement plant in Syria operating, marking the first time a corporation has been charged with supporting foreign terrorist organizations.

The Justice Department announced the guilty plea against Lafarge S.A., an international building materials manufacturer, after the firm was charged with conspiring to provide aid to the ISIS and the al-Nusrah Front, also known as al-Qaida in Syria, both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations.

As part of the plea, the company was ordered to pay nearly $778 million in penalties.

Federal authorities said the scheme allowed the company to operate the cement plant for more than a year beginning in August 2013, producing about $70 million in revenue.

source: www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/10/18/french-company-pleads-guilty-islamic-state-terror-group/10531770002/