IMF top boss Christine Lagarde grilled over $48 million payout

Paris: IMF boss Christine Lagarde faced a grilling on the second day of her trial on Tuesday over the “colossal” damages authorised for a French tycoon while she was French finance minister. Presiding judge Martine Ract Madoux forced the head of the International Monetary Fund on the defensive as she questioned $48 million had been paid to Bernard Tapie in personal damages. These so-called “moral damages” — to compensate for his emotional and physical suffering — were part of a 404 million euro settlement with Tapie in 2008 over a case he brought against the state.