The ruling by the Court of Cassation, one of the four courts of last resort in France, is a significant setback for the cement manufacturer who is accused of paying terrorist groups, including ISIS, approximately 13 million euros ($15.3 million) so its cement factory in northern Syria could continue operating through the beginning of the country's ongoing multi-sided civil war. 

In 2015, Swiss group Holcim merged with Lafarge and had to admit that its Syrian subsidiary paid "representatives" to negotiate with terrorist groups to allow the cement factory to remain open. The company has denied any responsibility for the money ending up in the hands of terrorists.

The court ruled Lafarge should be prosecuted for violating an EU embargo, funding terrorism, and endangering the lives of others. 

France's top court ruled Tuesday that "one can be complicit in crimes against humanity even if one doesn't have the intention of being associated with the crimes committed."

"Knowingly paying several million dollars to an organization whose sole purpose was exclusively criminal suffices to constitute complicity, regardless of whether the party concerned was acting to pursue a commercial activity," the court added.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Anadolu Agency uncovered a treasure trove of documents that show Lafarge had secret relationships with the Daesh/ISIS terror group. It also revealed French spy agencies used Lafarge's network of contacts in Syria to gather intel. None of the intelligence agencies notified the company it was committing a crime over funding the terror groups.