16th December, 2016
Defence lawyers for International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief, Christine Lagarde, have called for her acquittal on Friday, in their closing arguments before the court hands down a decision on Dec. 19.
Lagarde, standing trial on negligence charges over an arbitration ruling passed down by a three-person panel when she was French finance minister, has denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors on Thursday said that they do not support a conviction against 60-year-old Lagarde.
In 2015, the prosecutor’s office had already recommended dropping the case, but the court’s investigating committee decided to move forward.
If she is found guilty, she could face up to a year in prison and a fine of 15,000 Euros.
Arbitrators decided in 2008 to award 403 million Euros(419 million dollars) to business mogul Bernard Tapie after he sued over how state-owned Credit Lyonnais had handled a business sale.
In February 2015, the Court of Appeal of Paris overturned the arbitration award issued to Tapie due to connections between Tapie’s lawyers and one of the members of the arbitration panel.