PARIS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- French prosecutors questioned International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday as part of an investigation into a large payout to a businessman in 2008 when she served as the French finance minister.
Lagarde arrived at the Court of Justice of the Republic on Thursdday morning to answer questions over her role in a controversial arbitrage deal that handed some 400 million euros (about 515 million U.S. dollars) to magnate Bernard Tapie.
The money was used to settle a dispute with state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais over the botched sale of Adidas in the 1990s.
The hearing could run into Friday and after that Lagarde, who has denied any wrongdoing, could be placed under formal investigation or would be considered as a supervised witness.
"Lagarde will for the first time have the opportunity to provide (the court) with explanations and clarifications that exempt her from any criminal responsibility," Yves Repiquet, Lagarde's lawyer, was quoted as saying by local media.
