Christine Lagarde
Photo by: Reuters
Christine Lagarde, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been found guilty of negligence by a French court over a massive payout to a tycoon when she was the country's finance minister, but will not be fined or face prison.
Lagarde was found to be at fault on Monday for failing to challenge a 404 million euro ($420m) compensation payout to businessman Bernard Tapie over the sale of the Adidas sports brand to Credit Lyonnais bank.
Lagarde, who was France's finance minister between 2007 and 2011, was not in the Paris court to hear the decision.
Her lawyer said that she was in Washington, where the IMF is based.