IMF chief to stand trial over tycoon’s payout
Print Edition
IMF chief Christine Lagarde was yesterday ordered to stand trial in France over a massive state payout to a tycoon when she was French economy minister.
France’s highest appeals court dismissed Lagarde’s challenge against the decision to try her for negligence in her handling of a dispute between a state-owned bank and businessman Bernard Tapie.
Tapie walked away with a staggering 404 million euros (US$445 million) in compensation in 2008 after Lagarde ordered a row over the sale of sports gear giant adidas to be resolved by arbitration.
Yesterday’s ruling means the 60-year-old head of the International Monetary Fund will go before a special tribunal that hears cases against government ministers accused of wrongdoing in their duties.
The ruling is a blow to Lagarde, long touted as a potential future French president.
She says she acted in France’s best interests in the case, and the Washington-based IMF expressed firm backing for her as it was confirmed she would face trial.
It “continues to express its confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.
Her lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve said he was “convinced” Lagarde would be “absolved of all responsibility.”
Lagarde will be the third successive IMF chief to face trial.
Her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was acquitted of pimping by a French court last year, four years after he resigned his IMF post to fight separate sexual assault allegations.
Spain’s former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato has also been ordered to stand trial for misusing funds when he was head of Spanish lender Bankia.
Lagarde was placed under investigation in 2014 over her handling of a long-running dispute with Tapie, who claimed he was defrauded by the state-controlled bank Credit Lyonnais in its handling of his sale of adidas in the 1990s.
The case against Lagarde stems from her decision to allow the row to be settled by arbitration instead of by the courts, which would likely have resulted in a much smaller bill for the state.
Prosecutors have also questioned her failure to challenge the massive award.
A court has since found the arbitration to be fraudulent because one of the arbitrators had links to 73-year-old Tapie, a flamboyant figure who served as cities minister in the 1990s and has also dabbled in acting.
Lagarde has denied any wrongdoing or that she acted on orders from then President Nicolas Sarkozy, of whom Tapie was a supporter.
In an interview in Washington earlier this month she insisted she had a “clear conscience.”
“I’ve always acted in accordance with the law,” she said, “and I’ve always had in mind the public interest. It was not my duty to select the arbitration panel, to investigate their past and history, and I had no reason to doubt their probity and honesty.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
