French Cement Company That Paid IS to Keep Factory Running Pays Over 1 Trillion Won Fine to US

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] French cement company Lafarge, which provided money to the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) to operate a factory in Syria, has been fined an astronomical amount exceeding 1 trillion won by the United States.

On the 18th (local time), according to CNBC and others, Lafarge, which was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn on charges of supporting a terrorist organization, agreed to pay a fine of $778 million (approximately 1.11 trillion won) to the U.S. government.

To operate the factory controlled by IS in Syria, Lafarge delivered $5.92 million to the IS leadership in 2013 and 2014. After the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Lafarge continued to operate the local factory and paid money for securing raw materials and transportation. In this process, funds flowed not only to IS but also to the Syrian branch of the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.

The U.S. prosecution stated that Lafarge recorded sales of $70 million through the factory in northern Syria. Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said, "Lafarge made a deal with the devil," adding, "Such actions by Western companies are horrific, unprecedented, and unjustifiable."

Eventually, Lafarge closed the Syrian factory in September 2014, and the remaining assets, including cement worth $3.21 million, became owned by IS, according to the prosecution.

After completing negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the fine payment, Lafarge pleaded guilty at the Brooklyn federal court on the same day. In a statement, Lafarge explained that the payment to IS was an independent decision by one of the executives at the time, but the company decided to take responsibility at the corporate level. They also stated, "Currently, no Lafarge executives or employees are related to the incident."

The amount of the fine Lafarge agreed to pay is the largest ever imposed on a private company related to support for terrorist organizations.

Previously, Lafarge was also indicted and found guilty on the same charges by a French court.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.