Military families demand DOJ distribute nearly $800M from French cement company found guilty of bribing ISIS
In November 2017, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy was injured in Raqqa. Syria While cleaning the second floor of a hospital that ISIS booby-trapped with explosives.
Stacy, who is now paralyzed, his wife Lindsey and their four children are part of a lawsuit filed by military families against French cement company Lafarge. Lafarge was recently found guilty by a French court of paying millions of dollars in bribes to ISIS to keep its factories open in ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
“I mean, they were actually funneling money to fund terrorists and ISIS and all these heinous crimes and evil acts,” Lindsey Stacy told Fox News, standing next to her husband, a former Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist who had just undergone surgery to deal with injuries sustained in Syria 9 years ago.
“It’s so overwhelming, Kenton is dealing with his own struggles mentally and physically, the kids and me. We have our own struggles too,” he continued. “It’s very difficult to juggle, especially when our oldest son has cerebral palsy and requires 24/7 care.”
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President Trump praises Stacy’s service to the nation in 2018 State of the Union Address to Congress. Army Staff Sergeant Justin Peck burst into a booby-trapped building to save Kenton and then performed CPR on him for more than 2 hours as paramedics worked to save his life.
“Without Justin’s selfless love for a fellow warrior, Kenton Stacy would have died. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Raqqa has been liberated.…All of America salutes you.”
In a landmark decision in April, a French court found Lafarge, the world’s largest cement producer, guilty of providing material support to a terrorist group and sentenced its former CEO to 6 years in prison. Eight former Lafarge employees were found guilty. Lafarge is attractive.
The company accepted the court’s finding, describing the matter as a “legacy matter” and “clearly in breach of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct”.
Nearly 1,000 plaintiffs, mostly military families, were part of earlier lawsuits in the Eastern District of New York.
“They were killed in a terrible attack in Syria” terrorist organization It was partly financed by Lafarge. And this is not a claim. This is an undisputed fact. Lafarge is found guilty of doing this in 2022.”
Jenner & Block attorney Todd Toral is representing Stacy and 25 other families.
Toral, who is also a U.S. Marine, is seeking compensation for those families from the $777 million Lafarge paid to the Department of Justice as part of the settlement. The Department of Justice has held this money since October 2022.
“I think the decision of the court in France is important overall because it’s the first time in many years that a company, not just the company, but also the company executives are having to be held accountable for their misconduct in aiding terrorism,” Toral said in an interview with Fox. he said.
In order to operate in ISIS-controlled areas of Syria, Lafarge, through its Syrian subsidiary, paid more than $6.5 million to ISIS between 2013 and 2014 to keep its production facilities operating. The cement produced in the factory in Celabiya, which was purchased 680 million months ago before the uprising in Syria started in 2011, was also used in tunnels and shelters that helped the terrorist organization.
The case is significant because it is the first time a company has faced charges in the United States for supporting a terrorist group.
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(Getty Images)
In October 2022, Lafarge settled with the Department of Justice before the French ruling and paid more than $777 million to an asset forfeiture fund now controlled by the Department of Justice; Most of these funds were meant to compensate victims of ISIS attacks. American Gold Star families, Like Hailey Dayton, whose father was the first American killed by ISIS in Syria on Thanksgiving Day 2016.
“I was 15 when my father was murdered,” Hailey Dayton told Fox from her home in Florida. “I saw six men in dark blue and white get out of the van. I was so excited because I thought my father had returned to surprise us. I remember opening the door with a big smile on my face and telling the men I was trying to find my father but I couldn’t find him, I didn’t see him but instead I saw six men with tears in their eyes.”
The Biden Justice Department has rejected requests to distribute Lafarge funds while the case continues before the French Court. Lafarge was found guilty by this court in April. In February, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., pressed then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on when the Justice Department plans to release the funds to families.
“In February 2025, my colleagues and I sent a letter urging the department to review amnesty petitions submitted by families of fallen soldiers, including my constituents. The previous administration ignored these victims and our demands and left their petitions unresolved,” Biggs told Bondi. congressional hearing.
“Congressman, we recognize this and are committed to doing everything we can to support victims and work with you. Thank you for this question,” Bondi said. he said. That was more than a year ago, and the Department of Justice still hasn’t distributed compensation funds.
The plaintiffs, mostly military families, say the decision to release the funds rests with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“I don’t know why. I don’t know why they ignore us. To me, it feels like a pawn. My father enlisted in the military when he was 19, he served for 23 years,” said Dayton, Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton’s Gol Star daughter.
“I can tell the current Justice Department that they are going to make things right.”
Saying that she and her family had difficulty making ends meet due to Kenton Stacy’s serious injuries, Lindsey Stacy said, “There are many families out there who can benefit from these funds. So it’s been almost nine years. You know, it would be nice for justice to be served.”
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“They were recently convicted as criminals in their own country. It’s been a long war but it would be nice for it to end, to have some closure and for us to be able to take care of our family,” he added. “I mean, he made a huge sacrifice for our country, and it would have been nice if they had sided with us and all the other plaintiffs.”
“We can’t think of another group of people who are more deserving of receiving compensation from the victims’ compensation fund than these families who lost their son, who lost their brother, who lost their husband, and they deserve to be treated better by the United States,” Toral said in an interview ahead of Memorial Day Weekend. he said.
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The Ministry of Justice, which controls the $777 million fine that Lafarge lost, made the following statement:
“The Department is committed to compensating all victims to the fullest extent permitted by law. While we cannot comment on a pending matter, the Department will always initiate the appropriate process to evaluate claims and ensure that our brave soldiers receive all the compensation they are entitled to.”
Original article source: Military families demand DOJ distribute nearly $800 million from French cement company convicted of bribing ISIS
