French judges on Monday found International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence for failing to challenge a 400 million euro ($417 million) state arbitration payout to a business tycoon in 2008 when she was French finance minister.
Despite the ruling, the judges did not hand down any sentence for her decision to allow the rare out-of-court arbitration payment. She has denied the negligence charges.
Her lawyer said immediately after the ruling that his team would look into appealing the decision.
The ruling risks triggering a new leadership crisis at the International Monetary Fund after Lagarde's predecessor Dominique Strauss Khan resigned in 2011 over a sexual assault scandal.
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