IMF chief Lagarde to face trial in France corruption case

Lagarde, who is accused of alleged negligence over the Tapie affair while serving as France’s finance minister, said she would appeal against the decision, adding that she shared the prosecutors’ view there was no basis for any charge against her.

Investigators suspect he was granted a deal in return for his support of Nicolas Sarkozy, the reports say.

He sued the Credit Lyonnais bank over its handling of the sale, alleging that the partly state-owned bank had defrauded him by deliberately undervaluing the company.

Ms Lagarde stepped up to replace her fellow countryman in 2011.

“Ms. Lagarde would like to reaffirm that she acted in the best interest of the French state and in full compliance with the law”, said a statement issued by her office. But the Court of Justice of the Republic on Thursday has decided that she has a case to answer, according to a spokesman at the court, which is a special body for trials of government ministers.

The case had been handed to Ms Lagarde after an arbitration panel awarded the compensation. “I will recommend Mrs Lagarde appeal this decision”.

Mr Strauss-Kahn – also a former French minister – resigned following his arrest in NY on charges of sexual assault that were later dropped. After many years of back-and-forth rulings, a court earlier this month reportedly ordered Tapie to pay the money back.