Remember when the IMF was the bastion of boring, seems those days are over.

With Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sexual exploits still unfolding Christine Lagarde was entrusted with salvaging the reputation of the IMF, but now there is the small matter of $500 odd million dollars that Ms Lagarde must answer for to a French Court.

The money, it is claimed, was a bribe for a political figure to switch sides.

While this was happening today there were more troubles on the way for the now infamous DSK.

Air France ruled that only male cabin crew were allowed to serve Dominique Strauss-Kahn, currently fighting accusations he attempted to rape a New York hotel maid.

The claim was reported Thursday by Le Parisien newspaper, which also says lawyers for the former IMF chief’s alleged victim, Nafissatou Diallo, are soliciting testimony from female flight attendants at the national carrier, who may have been subjected to inappropriate behavior by the Frenchman.

Christine Lagarde, the French politician entrusted with restoring the reputation of the International Monetary Fund after the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is to face a criminal inquiry over corruption claims.

The decision by a French court to investigate Ms Lagarde, 55, for allegedly aiding and abetting embezzlement and fraud – offences that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison – represents a fresh embarrassment to the IMF just a month after it appointed her as managing director.

She is accused of wrongdoing over her role in a €403 million ($543m) payment to businessman Bernard Tapie when she was the French finance minister.

Opposition leaders in France initiated the case against her after claiming that the payment had been a way of rewarding Mr Tapie for switching political sides to support President Nicolas Sarkozy during the 2007 election campaign.

Ms Lagarde issued a statement through her lawyers in which she ruled out resigning from her IMF job, which pays $US467,940 ($447,853) a year. She denies any wrongdoing.

Shayne Heffernan

Shayne Heffernan oversees the management of funds for institutions and high net worth individuals.

Shayne Heffernan holds a Ph.D. in Economics and brings with him over 25 years of trading experience in Asia and hands on experience in Venture Capital, he has been involved in several start ups that have seen market capitalization over $500m and 1 that reach a peak market cap of $15b. He has managed and overseen start ups in Mining, Shipping, Technology and Financial Services.

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