The families of some US servicemen killed fighting ISIS in Syria are suing French cement giant Lafarge after the company pleaded guilty to making payments to the terrorist group.
A lawsuit filed by the families of three US servicemen killed in attacks attributed to ISIS states, according to a report by the Network. ABC “Defendants’ payments and business partnership with ISIS provided the group with the seed capital it needed to transform itself from a fledgling militia in the early 2010s into a brutal terrorist behemoth with the ability and intent to kill the Americans”.
Lafarge, a French company that was among the largest in the world at the time, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a fine of nearly $800 million in October after the company faced its first court case by the US government against a company for supporting terrorism, according to the network. Fox News.
Lafarge built a $680 million plant in northern Syria in 2011 but soon began facing competition from firms importing cheaper cement, according to the Justice Ministry.
Prosecutors accused the company of turning a blind eye to the actions of ISIS armed groups with which it did business, saying the financial deals it made were not motivated by ideological alignment with terrorist groups, but rather by an attempt to secure an economic advantage.
The Justice Department said the company paid nearly $6 million to armed groups in an effort to keep the plant running and relied on militants to protect its employees and ensure safe shipments of materials from the plant.
Lafarge later pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in fines in the hundreds of millions.
Prosecutors said the company also used fraudulent contracts and other fraudulent documents in an effort to hide its business dealings with militant groups.
“There is no justification — none — for a multinational corporation to authorize payments to a designated terrorist group,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in an October Justice Department news release, adding that “such payments are flagrant violations of our laws and warrant maximum scrutiny” by US authorities and warrant severe punishment.”
The lawsuit alleges the company put its “economic interest” first, helping to provide vital funding to a group that was killing civilians and innocent Americans.
It further states: “The defendants aided and abetted acts of international terrorism by ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra by knowingly providing significant assistance, including by providing cash and discreet payments through front companies and foreign intermediaries, purchasing raw materials from them and entering into anti-competitive agreements.” With foreign terrorist organizations, and not by closing the cement factory and evacuating it safely, thus placing tons of cement and precious raw materials in the hands of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra.”
“The defendants knew that this material support had been paid to foreign terrorist organizations and would be used to commit international terrorist acts,” he added.
The families of Chief Marine Officer Jason Finnan, Chief Petty Officer of Staff Scott Cooper and former Marine David Perry, who were killed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria between 2015 and 2017, also described the “extreme anguish mental and extreme emotional pain and suffering” they experienced. they suffered after the deaths in the lawsuit.
