{"id":100495,"date":"2022-10-19T09:46:23","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T08:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=100495"},"modified":"2022-10-19T09:46:23","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T08:46:23","slug":"lafarge-slammed-778m-fine-for-supporting-terror-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/lafarge-slammed-778m-fine-for-supporting-terror-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Lafarge Slammed $778m Fine For Supporting Terror Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lafarge, a global building materials manufacturer headquartered in France, and Lafarge Cement Syria, S.A. (LCS), a Lafarge subsidiary headquartered in Syria, pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging them with conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately following the defendants\u2019 guilty pleas yesterday, United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II sentenced the defendants to terms of probation and to pay financial penalties, including criminal fines of $90.78 million and forfeiture of $687 million, totaling $777.78 million.<\/p>\n<p>The charges arose out of the defendants\u2019 scheme to pay ISIS and ANF in exchange for permission to operate a cement plant in Syria from August 2013 to October 2014, which enabled LCS to obtain approximately $70.30 million in revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Lisa O. Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States; Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department\u2019s National Security Division; Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Michael Alfonso, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI); and Keechant L. Sewell, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the guilty pleas and sentences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the midst of a civil war, Lafarge made the unthinkable choice to put money into the hands of ISIS, one of the world\u2019s most barbaric terrorist organizations, so that it could continue selling cement,\u201d said United States Attorney Peace.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0\u201cLafarge did this not merely in exchange for permission to operate its cement plant \u2013 which would have been bad enough \u2013 but also to leverage its relationship with ISIS for economic advantage, seeking ISIS\u2019s assistance to hurt Lafarge\u2019s competition in exchange for a cut of Lafarge\u2019s sales. Today, Lafarge has admitted and taken responsibility for its staggering crime.<\/p>\n<p>Never before has a corporation been charged with providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n<p>This unprecedented charge and resolution reflect the extraordinary crimes committed and demonstrates that corporations that take actions in contravention of our national security interests in violation of the law will be held to account.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe terrorism crimes to which Lafarge and its subsidiary have pleaded guilty are a vivid reminder of how corporate crime can intersect with national security,\u201d said Deputy Attorney General Monaco. \u201cThe defendants partnered with ISIS, one of the most brutal terrorist organizations the world has ever known, to enhance profits and increase market share\u2014all while ISIS engaged in a notorious campaign of violence during the Syrian civil war. 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.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n\u201cThe defendants routed nearly six million dollars in illicit payments to two of the world\u2019s most notorious terrorist organizations\u2014ISIS and al-Nusrah Front in Syria\u2014at a time those groups were brutalizing innocent civilians in Syria and actively plotting to harm Americans,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Olsen.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0\u201cThere is simply no justification for a multi-national corporation authorizing payments to designated terrorist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs today\u2019s guilty plea demonstrates, Lafarge was motivated by greed and self-interest when it turned a blind eye.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lafarge, a global building materials manufacturer headquartered in France, and Lafarge Cement Syria, S.A. (LCS), a Lafarge subsidiary headquartered in Syria, pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging them&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lafarge Slammed $778m Fine For Supporting Terror Groups - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/lafarge-slammed-778m-fine-for-supporting-terror-groups\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lafarge Slammed $778m Fine For Supporting Terror Groups - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lafarge, a global building materials manufacturer headquartered in France, and Lafarge Cement Syria, S.A. 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