Advertisement

IMF head Christine Lagarde found guilty

IMF boss Christine Lagarde has been found guilty of negligence.

IMF boss Christine Lagarde has been found guilty of negligence. Photo: Getty

French judges have found IMF chief Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence for failing to challenge a state arbitration payout to a business tycoon in 2008 when she was French finance minister, but it did not punish her.

“The context of the global financial crisis in which Madame Lagarde found herself in should be taken into account,” Martine Ract Madoux, the main judge, said on Monday in explaining the absence of any sentence.

She also cited Lagarde’s good reputation and international standing as reasons why the court did not hand down a punishment in a case that could have carried a sentence of up to a year in prison.

In their ruling, the judges did not see negligence in Lagarde’s decision to seek an out-of-court settlement with businessman Bernard Tapie, but they said her failure to contest the award to him of 400 million euro ($A575 million) was negligent, and led to a misuse of public funds.

Lagarde’s lawyer said immediately after the ruling that his team would look into appealing the decision.

The ruling risks triggering a new leadership crisis at the International Monetary Fund after Lagarde’s predecessor Dominique Strauss Khan resigned in 2011 over a sex assault scandal.

The Washington-based institution’s executive board was expected to meet shortly to consider the implications of the verdict, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.

– AAP

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.