It was a partnership that the US characterized as driven solely for profit, where a French company provided millions of dollars to one of the world's most brutal terrorist organisations. Now, cement giant Lafarge is paying the price for that collaboration it worked hard to keep secret. $780 million, that's how much the French company was fined after it accepted a criminal plea agreement with the US Justice Department. In France, Lafarge is also facing criminal charges of complying with crimes against humanity.The French company owned and operated the $680 million dollar Jalabiyeh plant in northern Syria. When the country descended into civil war back in 2011, terrorist groups began seizing territory close to the plant's operations. From 2013 to 2014, Lafarge reportedly paid the terror group Daesh nearly $7 million dollars, to secure safe passage for its workers, and to purchase raw materials from Daesh controlled suppliers. The cement giant was involved in what has been described as a revenue sharing agreement that reportedly netted Lafarge an additional $70 million dollars. Another condition of the agreement would see Daesh go after Lafarge's competition, which included a Turkish cement company.

Guests:

Cannelle Lavite

Co-Director of Business and Human Rights at ECCHR

Navvar Saban

Researcher at Omran Center for Strategic Studies