FRANCE (AFP) –
The trial of the director-general of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde for alleged negligence that resulted in a major diversion of public money when he was minister of the Economy, was opened on Monday in Paris.
Christine Lagarde, former minister of Economy of France (2007-2011), has always claimed to have “acted in good faith” and its defense announced that it will request a postponement of the trial.
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If convicted, could be sentenced to up to a year in jail and a fine of 15,000 euros (15,900 dollars).
"I Was negligent, not," said Lagarde in his appearance before the Court of Justice of the Republic.
The officer is accused of alleged "negligence" for having commissioned a arbitration "spot" in the open case for a resale of the sports company Adidas.
Lagarde admitted that perhaps it was "deceived" in the case that the controversial French businessman Bernard Tapie received 403 million euros, 423 million dollars, from the treasury of the French.
"what If I was deceived by who I was? What were several of the deceived? We will know maybe one day, I want to know," commented the managing director of the IMF today.
at The start of the court hearing, Lagarde asserted that he did not "keep quiet".
"I Acted in conscience and trust with the sole objective of the general interest," stressed the exabogada international regarding its role in the case, when he was minister of Economy of the former president conservative Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-12), stating that it was not a "specialist" in this type of litigation.
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Whatever the ruling, this case could tarnish the image of this attorney business after its passage by the ministry of Economy became one of the most powerful women in the world.
Lagarde, who was brought back this year as the head of the IMF, indicated that it would take a leave of absence from the institution during the trial.
The director general of the IMF is to be judged by a special court, the Court of Justice of the Republic (JR, for its French acronym), created with the purpose of judging the ministers and former ministers for offences committed in the exercise of their functions.
Since it was created in 1993, the JR has been sentenced to three members of the government. At the beginning of December, the French justice sentenced the former minister of Finance, the president socialist Francois Hollande, Jérôme Cahuzac for tax fraud and money laundering.
Christine Lagarde is accused of “negligence” in the management of a case involving the businessman and former minister, socialist Bernard Tapie.
This last was considered to have been conned by the public bank Crédit Lyonnais over the sale in the sports brand Adidas in 1994.
Tapie, now 73 years old, was the owner of this sports firm between 1990 and 1993 but lost control of it when it declared bankruptcy.
sold it to the then state owned bank Crédit Lyonnais for 315.5 million euros in February 1993. The bank re-sell the following year for 701 million euros, which led to Tapie, to assert that he had been cheated.
To resolve the judicial litigation initiated by Tapie against the bank, Lagarde, who was appointed as minister of Economy in 2007 under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, chose to resort to a private arbitration, against the advice of an advisory body.
In 2008, the three-judge arbitration he was awarded Tapie compensation of more than 404 million euros from public funds.
But the civil justice annulled the arbitration award in early 2015, considering that it was a fraud. Tapie was sentenced to return the 404 million euros.
The French justice criticises Lagarde his “negligence and rainfall” in this case, that “deprived the State of an opportunity to avoid that these funds were diverted”.
In his defence, alleged that the resort to arbitration had been prepared before his arrival to the government and that he had “personal relationships” with the actors of the case.
In fact, Lagarde did not intervene in the election, very controversial, of the arbitrators.
The trial will last until 20 December.
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