Lafarge used fake consulting contract to buy fuel from Daesh

An ex-LafargeHolcim CEO has been charged as part of a probe into indirect funding of extremist militant factions in Syria. In order to keep its operation in Syria running while the territory was held by Daesh, group Lafarge’s Syrian subsidiary is alleged to have used a fake consulting contract to cover the purchase of fuel from the international terrorist outfit.

Former LafargeHolcim Chief Executive Eric Olsen has been charged as a continuing probe into the alleged indirect financing of militant groups in Syria is carried out, according to judicial sources. Those sources also confirmed that Olsen, who became CEO in 2015 when French multinational Lafarge merged with the Swiss group Holcim, had himself been indicted for “financing of a terrorist organisation” and “endangering the lives of others.”

Lafarge more generally stands accused of paying Daesh for fuel, alongside other militant groups in Syria, through a middleman so that the company’s factory in the northern city of Jalabiya would not have to cease production amid the continued civil war. Lafarge’s Syrian subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria is said to have used multiple avenues in order to make these purchases.According to a report in April 2017, commissioned by LafargeHolcim and seen by the French Press Association (AFP), the firm had paid out some €4.7 million between July 2012 and September 2014 directly, but is also suspected of using fake consulting contracts to buy fuel from Daesh, after the group gained control of most of Syria’s strategic oil reserves in June 2013. Despite the raging war, this enabled Lafarge to remain in Syria for two years, following the exit of most French companies while Daesh made major territorial gains.

On top of the indirect financing of a war, investigators are now attempting to conclude whether Lafarge failed to ensure the security of its Syrian staff. The employees were expected to stay behind after their management had fled the conflict in the summer of 2012. The probe also aims to ascertain the extent to which the company’s top managers were aware of the alleged deals with militants.

Three former officials at the Jalabiya factory were charged in the case before Olsen, who was also placed under judicial supervision. Olsen had previously been taken in for questioning over the allegations, alongside fellow ex-CEO, Bruno Lafont, and past Deputy Managing Director for Operations, Christian Herrault – both of whom are still being detained.

Olsen served as head of human resources and later deputy managing director at Lafarge at the time of the alleged payments, before becoming chief executive of the merged group. He left LafargeHolcim two years later.

The company has so far declined to issue a comment on the ongoing investigation.