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IMF's Lagarde to be questioned in court over 'Tapie Affair'

It is Lagarde's third appearance before judges probing her role as French finance minister in huge mediation payout to tycoon Bernard Tycoon.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde arrived Wednesday at a Paris court to face more questions over her role in a 2008 arbitration that awarded a massive state payout to controversial businessman Bernard Tapie, reports FRANCE 24.

It is Lagarde's third visit to the Court of Justice of the Republic, which is empowered to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by ministers in the exercise of their official duties.

The former finance minister was last questioned in May, when she avoided being charged and was instead given the less compromising statues of "assisted witness" in what has become known in France as the "Tapie Affair".

The case revolves around a controversial €400 million state payout ordered by an arbitration panel in 2008 for Bernard Tapie, a former politician and businessman, over his sale of sportswear company Adidas.

Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.