Lafarge SA placed under investigation in France
Legal charges put forward against individual wrongdoings in Syrian cement subsidiary
LAFARGE SA are being placed under investigation in France over the case relating to the operation of the Jalabiya cement plant in Syria by Lafarge Cement Syria between 2011 and 2014.
Parent company LafargeHolcim say they have received legal charges against individual wrongdoings that occurred in the former Syria operations of Lafarge Cement Syria, which is a subsidiary of Lafarge SA.
According to LafargeHolcim, the placement of Lafarge SA under judicial investigation had been expected given that several of the company’s former managers have previously been placed under judicial investigation.
Lafarge SA have already admitted that the system of supervision of their Syrian subsidiary did not allow them to identify wrongdoings at the level of this subsidiary.
The company says these wrongdoings were the result of an unprecedented violation of internal regulations and compliance rules by a small group of individuals who have since left the group.
Lafarge SA will appeal against those charges that do not fairly represent the responsibilities of the company.
Beat Hess (pictured), chairman of the board of LafargeHolcim, parent company of Lafarge SA, said: ‘We truly regret what has happened in the Syria subsidiary and after learning about it took immediate and firm actions. None of the individuals put under investigation is today with the company.’
He continued: ‘LafargeHolcim were formed in 2015 out of two proud champions, each with a tradition reaching back more than 100 years. Prior to the merger the Lafarge Group had a comprehensive compliance programme, which was breached.
‘We have further strengthened the compliance programme and culture since the merger to make sure that similar mistakes do not happen again. I believe our compliance culture is strong through our entire Group and with our dedicated employees we will overcome individual wrongdoings.’
LafargeHolcim say as soon as they became aware of the irregularities that occurred in Syria, the board of directors in 2016 commissioned an investigation that was undertaken by independent external legal advisers experienced in complex international investigations.
The main findings of this investigation were made public in April 2017 and revealed that the local company had provided funds to third parties to work out arrangements with a number of armed groups, which included sanctioned parties.
This report and more than 260,000 documents collected for the investigation have been handed over to the French authorities.
On several occasions, including yesterday (28 June) before the examining magistrates in Paris, Lafarge SA confirmed that unacceptable individual errors were made in Syria until the site was evacuated in September 2014.
The company has expressed its firm regrets over these errors and says it will continue to fully co-operate with the legal authorities.
