IMF chief's apartment searched in payment probe
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
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FRENCH authorities searched the Paris apartment of International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde yesterday in an investigation into her award of a 2008 arbitration payment to a businessman supporter of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, her lawyer said.
Lagarde, Sarkozy's finance minister at the time, has denied wrongdoing in ending a court battle with Bernard Tapie and to instead opt for arbitration. It resulted in a 285 million euro (US$367 million) sum being granted to the billionaire.
Although Lagarde has never been accused of profiting from the payment, the long-running Tapie affair is a distraction as the ex-lawyer, a major player on the international stage, seeks to restore stability to the global financial system.
Her predecessor at the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned over sexual assault charges that were later dropped.
Magistrates from a special tribunal that judges alleged abuses by government ministers suspect her of complicity in misusing public funds after she overruled objections to proceed with arbitration. The investigation has been open since 2011 and Lagarde has never been summoned for questioning.
"This search will help uncover the truth, which will contribute to exonerating my client from any criminal wrongdoing," Lagarde's lawyer, Yves Repiquet, said.
Lagarde was in Frankfurt at the time of the search that Repiquet said was carried out by investigating magistrates.
An IMF spokesman declined to comment other than to say that before Lagarde was named managing director, the board had discussed the matter.
The timing of the search was sensitive, coming a day after France's budget minister resigned after being targeted in a tax fraud inquiry.
Socialist President Francois Hollande came to power last May saying he would create an "exemplary" state free from the unfair advantages accorded the elite he said were rife under Sarkozy.
Lagarde, Sarkozy's finance minister at the time, has denied wrongdoing in ending a court battle with Bernard Tapie and to instead opt for arbitration. It resulted in a 285 million euro (US$367 million) sum being granted to the billionaire.
Although Lagarde has never been accused of profiting from the payment, the long-running Tapie affair is a distraction as the ex-lawyer, a major player on the international stage, seeks to restore stability to the global financial system.
Her predecessor at the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned over sexual assault charges that were later dropped.
Magistrates from a special tribunal that judges alleged abuses by government ministers suspect her of complicity in misusing public funds after she overruled objections to proceed with arbitration. The investigation has been open since 2011 and Lagarde has never been summoned for questioning.
"This search will help uncover the truth, which will contribute to exonerating my client from any criminal wrongdoing," Lagarde's lawyer, Yves Repiquet, said.
Lagarde was in Frankfurt at the time of the search that Repiquet said was carried out by investigating magistrates.
An IMF spokesman declined to comment other than to say that before Lagarde was named managing director, the board had discussed the matter.
The timing of the search was sensitive, coming a day after France's budget minister resigned after being targeted in a tax fraud inquiry.
Socialist President Francois Hollande came to power last May saying he would create an "exemplary" state free from the unfair advantages accorded the elite he said were rife under Sarkozy.
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