International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde arrived at a French court today for a second day of questioning over her role in a large payout to a businessman in 2008 when she was France’s Finance Minister.
Lagarde arranged arbitration that led to a compensation payment of more than 285 million euros ($ 369 million) to Bernard Tapie.
Including interest, the final sum was 400 million euros.
After 12 hours of interrogation Thursday, the IMF Chief said the court session would be continued on Friday. The court did not issue an official statement.
Tapie, who had been principal owner of Adidas, claimed he had been defrauded by the state-owned Credit Lyonnais Bank when it arranged the sale of the sporting goods maker in 1992.
Prosecutors suspect Lagarde of misuse of public funds because the money involved in settling the dispute came from the state treasury.
They said she should not have allowed the settlement to come about and that she should have challenged the decision after it was made.
Lagarde, who served as Finance Minister from 2007 to 2011, has denied the allegations. Tapie was a major backer of Nicolas Sarkozy in his 2007 Presidential Election campaign, and Lagarde is a member of Sarkozy’s party, the conservative Union for a Popular Movement.
In Washington, the IMF board of directors backed Lagarde through the court proceedings. Her term is set to end in 2016.