Hamadeh questions DOJ why Americans have not received funds from French cement company over ISIS

Arizona GOP Rep. Abraham Hamadeh on Thursday sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter questioning why qualified Americans have still not received a share of a multi-million dollar payout from a French company that admitted to providing material support and resources to ISIS.

Lafarge, a Paris-based building manufacturer with subsidiaries across the world, admitted in 2022 to paying almost $6 million to the Islamic State and al-Nusrah Front terrorist organizations in order to allow the company's Syrian branch to operate. 

The company was ordered to pay nearly $778 million in forfeiture and fines, which lawmakers claimed in February should have gone to families who were impacted by ISIS, according to a letter shared with Just The News. 

"While nothing can ever make these families whole, the pecuniary losses they have suffered as a direct result of Lafarge’s conspiracy with ISIS—many of the petitioners have lost their family's primary wage earner and have endured significant financial hardship—can and should be remedied," a group of Republican lawmakers wrote in February. "We want to know the exact status of these funds and why they were not paid to these families as soon as possible."

Hamadeh's letter on Thursday, which was also shared with Just The News, followed up with the Justice Department on the status of the funds, stating that none of the families have received compensation despite requesting part of the payout.

"Legal counsel representing many qualified victims and their survivors report that they have yet to receive any response, nor these forfeiture funds, from the federal government," Hamadeh wrote. "For families who lost their breadwinner, or for disabled servicemembers struggling to survive, access to their rightful share of these funds would be life changing.

"For the sake of justice for those who continue to suffer the consequences of ISIS' crimes and the actions of its collaborators, I respectfully reiterate the need for a clear accounting of the status of these funds and why victims families have received nothing," he continued. "This is one more failure of the Biden [Justice Department] that should be addressed."

The lawmaker did not give Bondi a clear deadline for a response but thanked her for her attention to the "urgent matter."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.