International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde is due to hold talks with the board over a fraud inquiry that’s stepped up a gear. A French magistrate has formalized an investigation into allegations that date back to her time as French Finance Minister.
She’s steered some of the world’s most troubled economies out of danger. International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde is now embroiled in some personal trouble of her own. French authorities have stepped up a three-year fraud inquiry over a business dispute involving Bernard Tapie - a prominent ally of former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde was Sarkozy’s finance minister at the time.
"The investigating commission of the Court of Justice of the French Republic has decided to place me under formal investigation, after three years of procedure. The only surviving allegation is that through inattention, I may have failed to block the arbitration that put an end to the long-standing Tapie litigation," Christine Lagarde said.
Lagarde denies accusations she was negligent over a 531 million dollar arbitration payout to Tapie in a business dispute. The allegations surfaced shortly after she took over the IMF in 2011Her lawyer called on the IMF to continue backing her.
Her predecessor and compatriot Dominique Strauss Kahn was forced to quit over a sex assault charge that was later dropped. Overseeing two multi-billion dollar bailouts of Greece and most recently Ukraine have boosted her international standing even further. So much so, she had to kill rumours earlier she’d run for European Commission President.
"I’m not a candidate, and the reason I’m not a candidate is that I have a job. And it’s a job that I happen to think is rather important at the moment," Christine Lagarde said.
Christine Lagarde has repeatedly said she’ll serve complete her term as IMF Managing Director - that finishes in 2016. She’s instructed lawyers in Paris to manage the case so that for now at least, she can continue her job uninterrupted.