Lafarge North America Inc, the U.S. unit of the world’s biggest cement maker, said several of its offices in western New York state were searched by federal agents in connection with a probe into "certain government contracts," reports  the Wall Street Journal.  The company said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late yesterday it is co-operating with the investigation, and that it is too soon to tell what the impact of the probe will be. "On June 28, 2006, federal agents served a warrant on and searched the premises of several of our offices in western New York State in connection with an investigation of certain government contracts," the company’s statement said.

Earlier, Lafarge SA said in an SEC filing that its cement business in Poland is being investigated by Polish antitrust regulators as part of an industry-wide probe there. Poland’s competition regulator is investigating the company’s cement business as part of a wider probe into anti-competitive practices in the cement industry. 
 
The investigation began June 21 and involves several other companies in the country’s cement industry, Lafarge said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  Lafarge said it couldn’t assess its potential risk due to the early stage of the investigation.
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