Christine Lagarde is taking time off her day job tackling the world’s financial crises to face trial on Monday for her role in a $425 million state payout to a French tycoon in 2008.
The well-respected, silver-haired head of the International Monetary Fund denies wrongdoing in the case, which dates to her time in the French government when she was finance minister.
Lagarde, 60, faces up to a year in prison and a 15,000 ($16,000) fine if convicted of negligence. The judges are expected to return a verdict in the wake of the last hearing, on December 20, but they can also announce a ruling at a later date.
The trial and possible conviction may raise concern about her ability to remain IMF boss. The Washington-based institution’s credibility was already shaken when her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also a French citizen, was forced to resign amid allegations of sexual assault in 2011.
The IMF’s board has so far supported Lagarde at all stages of the French legal proceedings, which began the month after her appointment in July 2011. It reiterated its support and confidence last week.
In an interview with France 2 television on Sunday, Lagarde said she was confident that she had done nothing wrong
This post was published at France24
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