One of the arbitration judges who oversaw the controversial 403 million-euro award to businessman Bernard Tapie has been placed under formal investigation for alleged “conspiracy to commit fraud”. As Mediapart's legal affairs expert Michel Deléan explains, this dramatic development shows that the long-running affair is rapidly gathering momentum.
Just days after IMF boss Christine Lagarde faced questioning over her role in the affair, the saga of the 403 million euro award made to colourful businessman Bernard Tapie has taken a new twist with the news that one of the arbitration judges who agreed the payout has been held for questioning. Tapie's lawyer is also being questioned in custody, as investigators probe allegations of a conflict of interest during the arbitration. Michel Deléan and Laurent Mauduit report on the latest developments.
French magistrates on Friday designated International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde as an ‘assisted witness’ in their investigation into the conditions of a payout, when she was French finance minister, of more than 400 million euros to controversial tycoon Bernard Tapie. Mediapart has learnt from several well-placed sources the reasons why the judges backed off from placing her under formal investigation, a move originally favoured by two of the three magistrates leading the investigation. These are said to include an extraordinary last-minute public statement in support of Lagarde by French finance minister Pierre Moscovici (pictured top left with Lagarde), and a reported change to her previous account that she managed the Tapie case without interference from the presidential office.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde (pictured) is to be questioned next month by French judges investigating a case of 'misappropriation of public funds' and 'aiding and abetting falsification' concerning an award from public funds of 403 million euros paid to controversial French tycoon Bernard Tapie when Lagarde was French finance minister, Mediapart can reveal. According to well-informed sources contacted by Mediapart she wil be interrogated on May 23rd, when Lagarde faces being formally placed under investigation - a status one step short of being charged – by the magistrates from the Court of Justice of the Republic, a special French court which is designated to investigate suspected malpractice by government members in the course of their duties. Laurent Mauduit reports.
The head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde is to appear soon before senior French judges over an investigation into allegations that as French finance minister she was involved in 'aiding and abetting falsification', Mediapart can reveal. The IMF boss is also facing claims that she was involved in the 'misappropriation of public funds'. The affair concerns the controversial decision to use an arbitration process that in 2008 awarded French businessman Bernard Tapie a 403 million-euro payout from the public purse. Lagarde's lawyer is due to learn later this week whether she will be heard as an 'assisted witness'- or be formally placed under investigation. Laurent Mauduit reports.
A curious bidding war between some of France's richest men over the ownership of loss-making daily newspapers in the south of France is nothing more than a preliminary move in a political chess game for power in Marseille, Mediapart has learned. As Laurent Mauduit reports, the cast of characters includes colourful businessman Bernard Tapie, billionaire François Pinault and President François Hollande himself, with various political interests pulling strings behind the scenes, in a tale of shifting alliances, old friendships and enmities.
Mediapart has obtained exclusive access to the scathing conclusions of a French court that prompted its decision earlier this month to open an investigation into IMF chief Christine Lagarde's suspected 'aiding and abetting falsification' and 'misappropriation of public funds' when she was French finance minister. The magistrates from France's Court of Justice of the Republic detail why they suspect that she acted personally to ensure that French tycoon Bernard Tapie, who leant public support to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign, received a payout of 403 million euros from the public purse through an arbitration procedure.
A French court is to investigate newly-appointed International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde (photo) for suspected 'aiding and abetting falsification' and 'misappropriation of public funds' in her handling of a huge compensation payout awarded to controversial French businessman Bernard Tapie while she was finance minister. Michel Deléan reports.
