26 April 2013. France Telecom Orange Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard had been summoned by the Budgetary and Financial Disciplinary Court, part of France’s public Cour des 
Comptes audit body as part of a probe into alleged corruption when he was a government aide. He was chief of staff to then-finance-minister Christine Lagarde who is currently the chief executive of the IMF.
Authorities are investigating an arbitration award of $370 million to the crooked tycoon Bernard Tapie in 2008. The award was in settlement of his long running dispute with now defunct Credit Lyonnais over Tapie’s sale of his stake in sport clothing firm Adidas to Credit Lyonnais which made a windfall profit from the subsequent sale of Adidas. Christine Lagarde has also been summoned to appear before a court at the end of May to explain her role in the pay-out to Tapie.
