IMF head Christine Lagarde must stand trial in France over a payment of €403 million (£340m) to tycoon Bernard Tapie, a French appeals court has ruled.
France’s court rejected Lagarde’s appeal against the decision to try her for negligence in her handling of the affair, which saw Bernard Tapie walk away with a massive payment in taxpayer money in 2008.
Bernard Tapie, a former French football team owner and some time pop star, won €403 million in 2008 in a case against the French public bank Crédit Lyonnais, after he said the bank undervalued his stake in Adidas. Christine Lagarde signed off on the payout as France’s minister of Finance at the time.
Investigating judges later deemed the payout a “sham” after it was revealed that one of Tapie’s lawyers had links to one of the judges.
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