Anti-corruption police raid the home of IMF chief Christine Lagarde after claims she 'authorised £270m payout to a convicted fraudster'

Anti-corruption police yesterday raided the Paris home of International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde. It follows claims that the former French finance minister authorised a £270million payout to a prominent Nicolas Sarkozy supporter when she was finance minister

The Court of Justice of the Republic, a special tribunal qualified to judge the conduct of government ministers while in office, said that the 57-year-old may have abused her position to help a controversial businessman.

Miss Lagarde is said to have allowed the equivalent of some £270million to be awarded to Bernard Tapie, a convicted football match fixer and tax dodger who supported her governing UMP party. 

Miss Lagarde’s lawyer, Yves Repiquet, confirmed the raid, saying: ‘This search will help uncover the truth’ and will ‘help to exonerate my client from any criminal wrongdoing.’ But news of the home of the world’s most senior banker being visited by detectives is bound to have disastrous repercussions for the IMF.

It comes after Dominque Strauss-Kahn, another senior French politician, resigned as IMF chief following allegations that he sexually assaulted a chambermaid in a New York hotel two years ago. Miss Lagarde began campaigning to succeed Mr Strauss-Kahn soon after his arrest for a crime for which he was later cleared. 

But now it is Miss Lagarde, a lawyer and retired synchronised swimming star, who is facing a criminal trial of her own, as well as a possible jail sentence. The scandal will not only pile further shame on France's political class, but worry politicians and bankers desperately trying to resolve the global financial crisis. 

Mr Tapie, the former head of Adidas in France, claims he was cheated out of millions by Credit Lyonnais bank when the sports kit empire was sold in 1993.In 2007, Miss Largarde ended the epic dispute by ordering a panel of judges to arbitrate and, in turn, they awarded Tapie the damages. 

Opposition MPs were furious, with former presidential candidate Francois Bayrou accusing Ms Lagarde of ‘dipping into the taxpayers' pocket for a private beneficiary'. Mr Strauss-Kahn's Socialist Party also accused Miss Lagarde of improper conduct, pointing to the fact that Mr Tapie was a vocal supporter of President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP. 

Last year, Miss Lagarde's lawyer, Yves Repiquet, said the inquiry was ‘in no way incompatible’ with her new job, and expected the case to be dismissed.’Miss Lagarde denies any wrongdoing, saying at the same time: ‘If it's decided to continue with this inquiry it won't be particularly surprising. Personally, it doesn't worry me at all – I didn't benefit personally’.

Culled from dailymail