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CRIME

French court summons IMF’s Lagarde

IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been summoned to testify in a French court, her lawyer confirmed on Thursday. Lagarde will give evidence as part of a probe into a €285 million arbitration payment made to businessman Bernard Tapie when she was a government minister.

Published: 18 April 2013 08:51 CEST
Updated: 18 April 2013 10:20 CEST
French court summons IMF's Lagarde
Photo: AFP

IMF chief Christine Lagarde is to be grilled by a special court investigating suspected corruption dating from her time as French finance minister, her lawyer said Thursday.

Lagarde, who took over at the International Monetary Fund in 2011 when the previous boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn stepped down over a sex scandal, has been ordered to appear before the court at the end of May.

She will have to answer allegations that she acted improperly in the handling of a financial dispute that resulted in around €400 million being paid by the state to disgraced tycoon Bernard Tapie.

Prosecutors working for the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) – a body established to try cases of ministerial misconduct – suspect Tapie received favourable treatment in return for supporting Lagarde's then boss, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections.

They have described Lagarde's handling of the case as "questionable" and suggested she was partly responsible for "numerous anomalies and irregularities" which could lead to charges for complicity in fraud and misappropriation of public funds.

Lagarde's Paris home was raided by CJR officials last month but she has not yet been charged with any crime. The IMF has stood by her and her lawyer insisted she would be cleared of any wrongdoing.

"As has been expected for several months, the court wishes to question Madame Lagarde," her lawyer, Yves Repiquet, told AFP. "A hearing will be held at the end of May.

"Mme Lagarde will finally have the opportunity to provide the court with explanations and clarifications that will exonerate her of any criminal responsibility."

The investigation is centred on Lagarde's 2007 decision to ask a panel of judges to arbitrate in a dispute between Tapie and Credit Lyonnais – the collapsed, partly state-owned bank – over his 1993 sale of sports group Adidas.

The arbitration resulted in the payout to Tapie, a former politician and businessman who went to prison for match-fixing during his time as president of France's biggest football club, Olympique Marseille.

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POLITICS

France to set up national prosecutor’s office for combatting organised crime

The French Minister of Justice wants to create a national prosecutor's office dedicated to fighting organised crime and plans to offer reduced sentences for "repentant" drug traffickers.

Published: 28 April 2024 13:02 CEST
France to set up national prosecutor's office for combatting organised crime

Speaking to French Sunday newspaper Tribune Dimanche, Eric Dupond-Moretti said he also intends to offer “repentant” drug traffickers a change of identify.

This new public prosecutor’s office – PNACO – “will strengthen our judicial arsenal to better fight against crime at the high end of the spectrum,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

Former head of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office Jean-François Ricard, appointed a few days ago as special advisor to the minister, will be responsible for consultations to shape the reform, the details of which will be presented in October, Dupond-Moretti said.

Inspired by the pentiti (repent) law in force in Italy, which is used to fight mafia crime, Dupond-Moretti also announced that he would create a “genuine statute” that rewards repentance.

“Legislation [in France] already exists in this area, but it is far too restrictive and therefore not very effective,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

In future, a judge will be able to grant special status to a repentant criminal who has “collaborated with justice” and “made sincere, complete and decisive statements to dismantle criminal networks”.

The sentence incurred by the person concerned would be reduced and, for their protection, they would be offered, “an official and definitive change of civil status”, a “totally new” measure, the minister said.

The Minister of Justice is also proposing that, in future, special assize courts, composed solely of professional magistrates, be entrusted not only with organised drug trafficking, as is already the case today, but also with settling scores between traffickers.

This will avoid pressure and threats on the citizen jurors who have to judge these killings, he said.

Finally, the minister plans to create a crime of “organised criminal association” in the French penal code. This will be punishable by 20 years of imprisonment.

Currently, those who import “cocaine from Colombia” risk half that sentence for “criminal association”, he said.

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