Lafarge Terror-Financing Trial Opens in Paris, Targeting Ex-CEO Bruno Lafont
The case tests how far French courts will hold a multinational to account for deals struck to keep a Syrian plant running during war.
Overview
- Former chief executive Bruno Lafont and seven others are on trial over allegations of financing terrorism linked to Lafarge’s operations in Syria.
- Prosecutors say roughly €5 million was paid in 2013–2014 to Islamic State and other armed groups to maintain production at the Jalabiya cement plant.
- Lafont vows to defend his honor and cites exchanges with French intelligence about security conditions, while investigators stress this did not imply state approval of any payments.
- Civil parties include the NGO Sherpa and former Syrian employees, who describe the proceedings as a test of corporate responsibility in conflict zones.
- A terror-financing conviction could bring a fine of about €1 million, with separate sanctions-related charges potentially carrying much higher penalties, and the company previously pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 and paid $778 million.