IMF chief Christine Lagarde flees France for US as she is found GUILTY of payout to tycoon…(Lock Her Up, Trump!)
HEAD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde has fled France after being convicted over a multi-million pound payment to a businessman.
By LANA CLEMENTS
Express.co.uk
Mon, Dec 19, 2016
The former French finance minister was found guilty of negligence by a French court over the so-called Tapie payment but has not been handed a sentence.
The IMF board is now set to meet and consider Ms Lagarde’s position in light of the conviction.
Ms Largarde’s lawyers have said they will look into appealing the decison, as the IMF chief headed for the US.
The £336million (€400m) compensation payout to Bernard Tapie was made in 2008 and signed off by the IMF head when she was France’s finance minister.
It’s feared Mr Tapie had been given the payment in return for supporting former President Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 election.
Ms Lagarde has now been found guilty of negligence for approving the extremely rare out-of-court payout.
The top judge in the trial said the IMF head was negligent by not seeking to overturn an arbitration ruling, which had awarded the compensation.
The conviction is a huge embarrassment for the American-based IMF after former head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was forced to quit in 2011 amid sexual assault allegations.
Ms Lagarde stepped up to replace her fellow countryman in 2011.
The Rest…HERE
