{"id":145426,"date":"2019-10-21T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=145426"},"modified":"2019-10-28T10:33:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T10:33:49","slug":"the-eurozone-in-crisis-new-president-of-the-european-central-bank-has-a-criminal-record-christine-lagarde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/10\/the-eurozone-in-crisis-new-president-of-the-european-central-bank-has-a-criminal-record-christine-lagarde\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eurozone in Crisis? New President of the European Central Bank has a Criminal Record. Christine Lagarde"},"content":{"rendered":"

14 Oct 2019 – Ms.\u00a0Christine Lagarde<\/strong>, outgoing Managing Director of the IMF has been appointed to the position of president of the European Central Bank (ECB) effective November 1, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n

France\u2019s president Emmanuel Macron<\/strong> acting on behalf of powerful banking interests was instrumental in Ms. Lagarde\u2019s nomination. Praised by the Western media, Lagarde was also endorsed by Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve.<\/em><\/p>\n

What media reports fail to mention is that\u00a0Lagarde is a corrupt official involved in financial fraud. She has a criminal record. <\/em><\/p>\n

Is the Eurozone in danger? Financial fraud is embedded at the highest levels of political and economic decision-making. A senior official in high office with a criminal record can easily be manipulated. Indelibly this will affect the way she manages the ECB, with potential impacts on the very fabric of monetary policy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lagarde\u2019s appointment to head the ECB has not been a matter of debate or concern. EU citizens have not been informed.<\/em><\/p>\n

She is an obedient instrument of the financial and banking establishment which controls both the IMF and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is silent.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On December 20, 2016, A French court found IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde guilty of \u201cnegligence\u201d in relation to a multimillion Euro fraud while she was France\u2019s Finance Minister in 2008. She is said to have approved \u201can award of \u20ac404m ($429m; \u00a3340m) transfer to businessman Bernard Tapie<\/strong>, [a crony of president Sarkozy] for the disputed sale of a firm.\u201d<\/p>\n

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has been convicted over her role in a controversial \u20ac400m (\u00a3355m) payment to a businessman.<\/em><\/p>\n

French judges found Ms Lagarde guilty of negligence for failing to challenge the state arbitration payout to the friend of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy [Bernard Tapie].<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Court of Justice of the Republic, a special tribunal for ministers, could have given Ms Lagarde up to one-year in prison<\/a> and a \u20ac13,000 fine<\/strong>. (The Independent, December 19, 2016, emphasis added)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Screenshot: The Independent, December \u00a02016<\/p><\/div>\n

Unusual in France? Lagarde was found \u201cguilty\u201d without the enforcement of a one year jail term<\/em> ordered by the Court: criminals in high office are given special treatment. She was accused of \u201cnegligence\u201d rather than \u201ccomplicity\u201d in a multimillion euro fraud.<\/p>\n

In a bitter irony, Lagarde was rewarded rather than penalized. Despite her criminal record, her career was in no ways impeded: she was appointed to lead both the IMF (2011-2019) and the ECB (2019- )<\/p>\n

Of significance, this \u2018negligence\u201d\u00a0has cost French taxpayers more than 400 million Euro \u201cin a payout to Mr Tapie\u201d, a crony of Lagarde and Sarkozy.<\/p>\n

While Lagarde\u2019s management at the IMF (2011-2019) has been an absolute disaster, the IMF executive board confirmed that it retained \u201cfull confidence\u201d in her leadership. (BBC, December 20, 2016).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

No questions asked. Her nomination to head the ECB was confirmed by the European Council last July.\u00a0Despite her criminal record, she will be commencing her mandate as president of \u00a0the European Central Bank (ECB) on November 1st.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a criminal indictment and conviction. While \u201cnegligence\u201d is a gross understatement, her appointment to head the ECB spells disaster for millions of Europeans.<\/p>\n

Ecuador: An IMF Model of Neoliberal Reform under the Helm of Christine Lagarde<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January 2019, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde<\/strong> met up with Ecuador\u2019s president Lenin Moreno<\/strong> at the Davos World Economic Forum. Two months later an IMF \u201cpackage\u201d of deadly economic reforms was finalized.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lagarde and Moreno at Davos Economic Forum, January 2019<\/p><\/div>\n

While Moreno\u2019s predecessor Rafael Correa<\/strong>\u00a0denounced the IMF and World Bank as \u201cneo-colonialist vampires who want to suck little countries of their sovereignty\u201d, Lenin Moreno fully embraced the IMF\u2019s neoliberal agenda.<\/p>\n

In March 2019, a \u00a04.2 billion dollar \u201cfake loan\u201d agreement with the IMF was implemented, resulting in\u00a0mass poverty through statutory wage reductions, dismissals of teachers and health workers, a spree of privatization of social services, a process of engineered inflation leading to a generalized collapse of purchasing power.<\/p>\n

Extending the IMF Role to the EU<\/strong><\/p>\n

The IMF has a longstanding record of triggering poverty and economic destruction under its so-called \u201cStructural Adjustment Programme\u201d (SAP). \u00a0The latter consists in the imposition of drastic macroeconomic reforms as a condition for debt relief on more than 100 developing countries.<\/p>\n

Will this model of IMF macro-economic management (which has already been applied in several European countries) be extended to all the member states of the European Union?<\/p>\n

What is the broader relevance of the Ecuador crisis? How does it affect the European Union?\u00a0What will be Lagarde\u2019s role at the ECB?<\/p>\n

Read More: Eight Years Ago-Regime Change at the IMF: Christine Lagarde and The Frame-Up of Dominique Strauss-Kahn<\/a> – Daily Express, July 4, 2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The financial establishment (which supported her nomination both to the IMF and the ECB ) wants to replicate the IMF-style \u00a0\u201ceconomic medicine\u201d imposed on developing countries throughout the European Union. No more double standards in favor of the so-called \u201cdeveloped countries\u201d. Brutal economic reforms to be applied Worldwide.<\/p>\n

What can we we expect? A\u00a0scenario of systematic and engineered impoverishment of the European Union through the imposition of the same brand of neoliberal reforms imposed on so-called developing countries.<\/p>\n

The Eurozone in Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moreover, the ECB under the helm of Christine Lagarde will facilitate the dollarization of the Euro not to mention the fraudulent manipulation of currency markets which also constitutes a means to impoverish millions of people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Eight years ago, Flashback to May-June 2011. Lagarde\u2019s Fraudulent Appointment to Head the IMF.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Dominique Strauss Khan<\/strong> (DSK) Honey Trap Scandal was instrumental in Lagarde\u2019s accession to the IMF despite the fact that her role as France\u2019s Minister of Finance in the Euro 400 million financial fraud was already known and documented.<\/p>\n

Media focus at the time centered\u00a0on the story of\u00a0 the alleged victim, the hotel housemaid, rather than on who was pulling the strings behind the scenes in\u00a0what visibly was a political frame-up.<\/p>\n

Regime Change: Dominque Strauss Khan (DSK),\u00a0managing director of the IMF\u00a0<\/strong>was framed and Christine Lagarde was appointed to replace him.<\/p>\n

There was no firm evidence against Strauss-Kahn. \u00a0This was known to prosecutors at an early stage of the investigation. The framing of Strauss Kahn consisted in dropping the charges against Strauss Kahn only after the appointment of Lagarde to replace him as Managing Director of the IMF.<\/p>\n

The report from the the prosecutor New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Junior<\/strong>\u00a0exonerating\u00a0Strauss Kahn of all charges against him was\u00a0released three days after Lagarde\u2019s confirmation as Managing Director of the IMF.<\/p>\n

If this information had been revealed a few days earlier,\u00a0Lagarde\u2019s candidacy to head the IMF would no doubt have been questioned.\u00a0Regime change was implemented at the IMF.<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that prosecutor Cyrus Vance Junior (son of former Secretary of State of Cyrus Robert Vance<\/strong>) is reported to be a friend of president Nicolas Sarkozy who allegedly played a behind the scenes role in the framing of Strauss Khan.<\/p>\n

Concluding Remarks<\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Central Bank as an instrument of economic and social development has been hijacked. Monetary policy has de facto been privatized. \u00a0The president of the central bank is controlled and manipulated by financial interests. The European council was unduly pressured into ratifying the appointment of Christine Lagarde.<\/p>\n

Citizens across Europe should take a firm stance. Mass mobilization against Christine Lagarde\u2019s appointment should be envisaged.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research.\u00a0 He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of eleven books including\u00a0<\/em>The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order\u00a0(2003<\/em>),\u00a0America\u2019s \u201cWar on Terrorism\u201d\u00a0(2005<\/em>),\u00a0The Global Economic Crisis, The Great Depression of the Twenty-first Century\u00a0(2009<\/em>) (Editor<\/em>),\u00a0Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War\u00a0(2011<\/em>), The Globalization of War, America’s Long War against Humanity (2015<\/em>). He is a contributor to the<\/em> Encyclopaedia Britannica.\u00a0 His writings have been published in more than twenty languages.\u00a0In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO’s war of aggression against Yugoslavia. He can be reached at crgeditor@yahoo.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 Prof Michel Chossudovsky<\/a>, Global Research, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 globalresearch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14 Oct 2019 – Lagarde was found \u201cguilty\u201d without the enforcement of a one year jail term ordered by the Court: criminals in high office are given special treatment. She was accused of \u201cnegligence\u201d rather than \u201ccomplicity\u201d in a multimillion euro fraud. In a bitter irony, Lagarde was rewarded rather than penalized. Despite her criminal record, she was appointed to lead both the IMF (2011-2019) and the ECB (2019- ).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":145430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,55,139,146],"tags":[232,120,550,354,1506,1268,267,1289,504,651,109,287,985,172,75],"class_list":["post-145426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-capitalism","category-justice","category-economics","tag-capitalism","tag-conflict","tag-corruption","tag-economics","tag-european-central-bank","tag-european-union","tag-geopolitics","tag-imf","tag-international-relations","tag-justice","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-social-justice","tag-west","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}