Christine Lagarde (IMF) prosecuted in France – Il Sole 24 Ore

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This article was published on Dec. 17, 2015 at 16:06.
The last change is the December 17, 2015 at 16:48.

The number of the IMF Christine Lagarde was prosecuted in France. The news was reported by website Mediapart. The charge against him is “negligence” when he was French finance minister in the arbitration concluded by the payment of 404 million euro of public funds French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie. The arbitration concerned the dispute that opposed the bank Credit Lyonnais for advice in the sale of the German sports brand Adidas. In early December the Court of Appeal of Paris had ordered Tapie to repay money he had received in 2008.

minor infraction, as he emphasized his lawyer Yves Repiquet at the time Lagarde had come under investigation – was the August 2014 – but for which the penalty is up to one year of imprisonment and a 10,000 euro fine. The number one of the IMF had not been left to decompose: had immediately ruled out of wanting to step down.

Now, however, the trial could change the picture, even if the board of the IMF in a statement expressing confidence in the ability of the Director General to lead the institution, emphasizing that it is “inappropriate” to comment on the case before it the court is expressed. For its part, Lagarde has asked his lawyer to appeal against the decision to postpone it to trial and announced that he would inform the board on developments.

At the beginning of the investigation, when in the same story Lagarde had been questioned as a “witness assisted” intermediate status between a simple witness and suspect, the IMF said it was “confident” in its ability to hold ‘its functions effectively “despite the legal proceedings in which he was involved.

Lagarde, 59, was finance minister at the time, under President Sarkozy. Tapie had supported in 2007 the presidential campaign of Sarkozy. Tapie was a majority shareholder of Adidas but sold it in 1993 and later sued against Credit Lyonnais on charges of having cheated with an underestimation of the value of the club.

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