Christine Lagarde, current head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [official website], was found negligent by a special French court Monday in her handling of a long-running fraud case involving a USD $400 million payment to French businessman and Nicolas Sarkozy supporter Bernard Tapie during her time as France’s finance minister. Lagarde will not be fined or imprisoned as a result of the verdict, and IMF spokespersons will meet shortly [press release] to discuss the verdict and how the IMF will proceed.

In July Lagarde was was ordered by a French court to face criminal trial [JURIST report] for her negligence in facilitating the government payout to Tapie. Lagarde was accused of allowing Tapie’s case to be decided upon by an arbitration panel, as opposed to the courts, during her time as France’s Finance Minister under then president Sarkozy. In 2011 a French court had ordered [JURIST report] a formal investigation into Lagarde’s involvement in Tapie’s arbitration agreement [BBC backgrounder]. Tapie had initially sued France for compensation after he claims a state-owned bank, Credit Lyonnais, defrauded him and sold his stock in Adidas at a much higher value. While Tapie had initially won a $400 million settlement through the arbitration, that decision was overturned and he has since been ordered to reimburse the state. Tapie has appealed the decision and the case is still pending.