The Telegraph — Christine Lagarde looked to be safe in her role as the International Monetary Fund’s managing director on Monday night after its board gave her its backing, just hours after she was convicted of “negligence” over a huge payout to a business tycoon while she was French finance minister.
Despite this guilty count, the judge ruled that Ms Lagarde should be spared any punishment – meaning she has a clear criminal record – given her “international reputation” and the fact that at the time she was instrumental in handling “the international financial crisis”.
Mrs Lagarde, who has maintained her innocence throughout the process, said she was “not satisfied” with the verdict but would not appeal against the decision. “There is a point in time when one has to just stop, turn the page and move on, and continue to work with those who have put their trust in me,” she said.
The IMF board praised the “wide respect and trust” for Mrs Lagarde’s leadership as it expressed its “full confidence” in her ability to continue in the role at the upper echelons of international finance.
Proceedings centred on Ms Lagarde’s 2007 decision to allow a dispute over flamboyant magnate Bernard Tapie’s sale of the Adidas sports brand to Credit Lyonnais bank to be resolved by a rarely-used private arbitration panel, instead of through the courts.
The IMF chief had argued in evidence on Friday she had acted in good faith in approving the payment to settle the row.
“In this case, like in all the other cases, I acted with trust and with a clear conscience with the only intention of defending the public interest.”
Investigators suspected that the “colossal” payout to Mr Tapie, 73, resulted from an illicit agreement with Nicolas Sarkozy, 61, who was then president.
In return for supporting Mr Sarkozy’s 2007 election bid Mr Tapie received a promise that his long-running damages claim would be settled, the court heard.
Ms Lagarde was suspected of approving a deal that was effectively a way of buying off the tycoon with taxpayer’s money. She denied this, saying she may have been misled by civil servants and only ever did her duty.
“The risk of fraud totally escaped me,” she said.
