The chief of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde
Sat May 25, 2013 5:49AM GMT
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The
Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) assigned IMF chief Christine
Lagarde the status of “assisting witness” over her role in a
400-million-euro ($520 million) pay-off to disgrace former Minister of
City Affairs Bernard Tapie, who has served two years in prison for
corruption.”
A
French court has named the head of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) as “assisting witness” in an investigation into a payout made when
she was France’s finance minister.
The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) assigned Christine Lagarde the status on Friday after two long days of questioning on her role in a 400-million-euro ($520 million) pay-off to disgrace former Minister of City Affairs Bernard Tapie, who has served two years in prison for corruption.
“My status as assisted witness is not a surprise to me, since I always acted in the interests of the state and in conformity with the law,” Lagarde said after the second day of questioning in the case.
Prosecutors suspect that Tapie received favorable treatment in return for giving support to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections.
The prosecution suggests Lagarde was somewhat responsible for “numerous anomalies and irregularities,” which could lead to charges for complicity in fraud and misappropriation of public funds.
“My explanations came as a response to the doubts that had been brought up regarding the decisions I had taken at the time,” Lagarde added.
Lagarde said she would now return to Washington “to pursue my mission as managing director of the IMF.”
Although Lagarde avoided being placed under formal investigation, Friday's decision by the special court means that the IMF chief will be called upon to testify at a later stage.
The case stretches back to 1993 when Lagarde went ahead with arbitration between Tapie and to then state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais, over the botched sale of sports company Adidas.
Tapie claimed the bank had defrauded him after it resold his stake for a much higher sum and argued that the state should compensate him.
Critics said the state should not have paid the 400-million euro compensation to the convicted Tapie, who at that time was bankrupt, since he would not have been able financially to take the case through the courts.
With the payout, Tapie was able to repay his huge debts and relaunch his business career.
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