A French court has found Lafarge Cement guilty of bankrolling terrorist sects like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, determining the company paid at least $6.5 million to insurgents in Syria over a decade ago, specifically between 2013 and 2014.

The presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez, on Monday sentenced Lafarge ex-CEO Bruno Lafont to six years imprisonment, as she found eight other employees guilty of aiding and abetting terrorist activities in northern Syria with the enormous payment made in separate tranches.

Lafarge admitted that the funds were to guarantee the company’s continued operations amid an insurgency that plunged the Syrian economy into decline. 

The money, Lafarge claimed, was to ensure that the cement plant ran smoothly without any disruptions.

“It is clear to the court that the sole purpose of the funding of a terrorist organisation was to keep the Syrian plant running for economic reasons. Payments to terrorist entities enabled Lafarge to continue its operations,” Ms Prevost-Desprez

The judge further noted that the “payments took the form of a genuine commercial partnership with IS.”

It contended that the funds were used to secure safe passage for the employees who had accommodations in Manjib. To access the plant, workers were required to cross the Euphrates river.

Lafarge argued that the company decided not to shut down the company because it was being considerate of staff welfare, given locals made up the majority of their hire.

“We could have washed our hands of it and walked away, but what would have happened to the factory’s employees?” said former deputy managing director Christian Herrault.

The French judge sentenced Mr Herrault to five years in prison and issued a seven- year sentence to Firas Tlass, a Syrian who was a previous staff for Lafarge. Mr Tlass was the one who delivered the funds to the terrorists. The judges sentenced Mr Tlass in absentia.

The court fined Lafarge $1.3 million,  granting the request of prosecutors who sought the highest financial penalty for such crimes.

“Lafarge SA acknowledges the court’s finding, which concerns a legacy matter involving conduct that occurred more than a decade ago and ‌was in ⁠flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct,” Reuters cited the company as saying in response to the judgement.

The case mirrors a similar 2022 lawsuit that Lafarge battled in the U.S. where the cement company coughed up $777 million in a plea agreement over illegal payments to terrorist groups in Syria.