Lafarge to Face Trial Over Terrorism Funding Accusations

(Bloomberg) — Cement maker Holcim Ltd.’s Lafarge will face trial in France over allegations it helped finance terrorism and violated sanctions in a long-running case over payments made to keep a plant operating in war-torn Syria.

A Paris investigative judge issued the order for a trial on Wednesday, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in an email. The sanctions breach allegations concern a European ban on all financial or commercial links to terrorist groups Islamic State and Al-Nusra, according to a statement from one of the plaintiffs in the case, anti-corruption organization Sherpa.

Holcim shares dropped as much as 2.5% in Switzerland, the most since August before paring some losses to trade 1% down by 17:05 p.m.

Holcim and a lawyer for Lafarge didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

In a parallel part of the case, Lafarge was charged over suspicions it aided and abetted crimes against humanity. That investigation is still in train and no decision has been made on whether to order a trial.

The first allegations emerged just months after the tie-up between Holcim and French cement rival Lafarge and has been a thorn in the side of the combined company ever since. The US ran its own investigation which led to Lafarge pleading guilty and agreeing to pay $777.8 million over parallel accusations in 2022.

Lafarge’s internal probe found that money was paid to armed Syrian groups in an attempt to safeguard the factory at the heart of the case. It was eventually seized by Islamic State fighters in September 2014.

–With assistance from Allegra Catelli.

(Updates with background from the fifth paragraph)

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