Christine Lagarde, the former French finance minister and current head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), could be facing a year in prison.
Bernard Tapie was awarded the sum by a special arbitration panel after direct intervention from Lagarde, who CNBC notes ultimately signed off the controversial compensation. This had followed a 15-year legal battle after Tapie sold his majority shareholding in the sports brand Adidas to a consortium that included the state-backed bank Credit Lyonnais, which later sold the stake on for a hefty profit.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The businessman, who relinquished his holding in order to clear an apparent conflict of interest after taking up a role in Francois Mitterrand's Socialist government, claimed the bank had mishandled the sale and deliberately undervalued the company. He was originally awarded €135m, but he claimed that did not cover the losses incurred.
Legal wrangling has been ongoing for some time and back in 2013 a fraud investigation saw Lagarde's Paris home raided by police. Earlier this month a separate French court ruled that Tapie was not entitled to the compensation and should repay it with interest.
Lagarde's lawyer Yves Repiquet told a French television network the decision to order her to stand trial is "incomprehensible" and that he will recommend she appeal. The IMF boss, who is 59, has five days to do so once the court decision is made public today or Monday.
-
How will the new Repayment Assistance Plan for student loans work?the explainer The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) will replace existing income-driven repayment plans
-
In the Spotlight Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been at odds with US forces
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black KeysFeature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right nowSpeed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday dealsSpeed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from LondonSpeed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck againSpeed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacySpeed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
