CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY FUNDING ISIS
Eight years in the making — beginning on Nov 4, 2025, Paris puts Lafarge S.A. (now Holcim) and its former executives on trial for financing ISIS and violating EU sanctions tied to its Syria operations.
Running in parallel: a history-making probe for complicity in Crimes Against Humanity (CAH) —France’s first corporate CAH indictment.
What prosecutors say happened:
To keep a $600M cement plant near Jalabiya, Syria running amid the war (2012–2015), Lafarge’s Syrian arm allegedly funneled money through intermediaries and IS-linked suppliers while local staff kept working under kidnapping/extortion risks — after foreign managers decamped to Egypt in 2012 and ran the site remotely. An internal report cited by French courts tallies $15,562,261 in payments routed via a fixer and IS-linked suppliers, while $86,000,000 in group funding flowed into Syria. The court also noted manual bookkeeping and a special “representation fees” account.
The U.S. piece (it’s huge): In 2022, Lafarge and LCS pleaded guilty in the U.S. to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and al-Nusra; they agreed to pay $777.78M. That does not block the French case — conduct, victims, and legal theories differ, so ne bis in idem doesn’t save them in Paris.
Piercing the corporate veil (French style): France’s top court said that knowingly paying several million dollars to a criminal organization can be complicity (aiding/abetting) — and “doing it for business” doesn’t negate intent. Translation: parent-company decisions and money flows matter; “it was just the sub” won’t fly.
Clinton-adjacent facts:
THE 2014 HINGE (WHY CF DONATIONS ARE THE FOUNDATION)
2014 is when the Lafarge–Holcim merger was announced.
2014 is the heart of the Syria corridor payments window.
2014 is also when the Clinton Foundation donor roll flags “Lafarge — $50,001–$100,000 — Donated in 2014: YES.”
Ericsson ($50–100k; 2014: Yes)
Lafarge ($50–100k; 2014: Yes)
Context many forget: Hillary Clinton previously served on Lafarge Corporation as a Director of the (U.S.)’s board — 1990–1992.
Clinton world corporate clients: Doug Band/Teneo arranged paid speeches for President Clinton from clients including Ericsson (>$3M combined with UBS/Barclays) — relevant given the parallel Ericsson-in-Iraq leak about illicit payments and ISIS checkpoints.
Different case, different facts, both civil cases and both still active — but the motif (corporates paying to move people and goods in war zones) rhymes.
Why this trial matters beyond Lafarge: If Paris lands the CAH theory, it rewires corporate risk: not just “sanctions exposure” but potential complicity in atrocities when multinationals grease wheels in conflict economies. That’s a sturdier legal frame (treaties/custom) than the whack-a-mole of counter-terror rules.
All cases are ALSO Civil Trials and all overlap with the Ericsson ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act Case) (LaFarge Anti-Terrorism Act Case) along with the
@CFWBers Clinton Foundation Civil Tax Case...
A lot more is happening that most would miss... I'll connect more dots throughout the week but you should read into just how interconnected it all is below in the Article quoted threads.