PARIS: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde faced a French court on Monday over negligence charges raised by an arbitration case decided when she was the country’s finance minister.
Lagarde said she did not intend to stay silent during the proceedings as she faced the Court of Justice of the Republic, which investigates and prosecutes allegations of wrongdoing by ministers in the course of their duties.
But Lagarde’s lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve requested a postponement of the proceedings, arguing that ongoing investigations related to the case should first be concluded. The court then adjourned to consider the demand.
Lagarde has been charged with negligence related to an approximately400-million-euro payment to Bernard Tapie, part of a 2008 arbitration agreement between Tapie and a public entity representing the liability of former state-owned Credit Lyonnais bank.
She had given the go-ahead for the arbitration in 2007 after being appointed France’s finance minister during the office of then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Tapie, long a Socialist who briefly held office in the early 1990s,had quit the party to support Sarkozy’s bid for president during the campaign.
Critics have long argued that the deal was too generous to Tapie and have speculated that he only got it because of his political connections, including to Sarkozy. Lagarde has consistently denied wrong doing.
If she is found guilty, Lagarde could face up to a year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros. A guilty verdict could also imperil her post at the head of the IMF. — DPA
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
