US Department of Justice to investigate Cemex over Maceo plant payments

The US Department of Justice is investigating Mexico's Cemex SA over payments concerning the construction of the Maceo cement plant in Colombia. Cemex is being investigated over whether it violated federal bribery laws.

Cemex said in a filing Monday that it had received a federal grand jury subpoena related to the Colombian project, located in the municipality of Maceo.

According to a September 2016 filing, Cemex paid roughly US$20m to a non-governmental employee of CI Calizas y Minerales SA, a Colombian company described online as a cement and concrete supplier, for land and to secure mineral rights and access to a tax-free benefit zone that includes the site of the new plant.

Internal audits later turned up irregularities in these payments, claims the Wall Street Journal. As a result of the audits, the company terminated the executives responsible for making the payments. The chief executive of Cemex Latam Holdings later resigned over the matter.

In its filing, Cemex said it would cooperate fully with the investigations.