• IMF chief Christine Lagarde's Paris apartment searched by police

    Lisi Niesner / Reuters

    International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde, seen in Frankfurt on Wednesday prior to the rain on her Paris apartment.

    By Chine Labbe and Julien Ponthus, Reuters

    PARIS - French police searched the Paris apartment of International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Wednesday as part of an investigation into misuse of public funds in her previous role as finance minister of France.

    The probe centers on her awarding of a 2008 arbitration payment to a businessman supporter of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, her lawyer said.

    Lagarde, who was serving in Sarkozy's government at the time, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in ending a judicial battle against billionaire Bernard Tapie and instead opting for arbitration.

    Investigating magistrates suspect her of complicity in embezzling public funds after she overruled objections from advisers to proceeding with the controversial $367 million to Tapie.

    "This search will help uncover the truth, which will contribute to exonerating my client from any criminal wrongdoing," Lagarde's lawyer, Yves Repiquet, told Reuters.

    It was conducted a day after France's budget minister resigned after being targeted in a tax fraud inquiry.

    Socialist President Francois Hollande came to power last May vowing to crack down on the cozy relationships between politicians and businessmen he said were rife under Sarkozy.

    Lagarde was in Frankfurt and not in her Paris flat at the time of the search, a spokesman for the IMF chief said.

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  • Georges Gobet / AFP - Getty Images

    Luxembourg Prime Minister and Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker kisses International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde after a press conference on the Greek bailout on Feb. 21, 2012 in Brussels.

    Greek bailout deal sealed with a kiss

    NBC News, msnbc.com and news services report: After months of tough negotiating, Europe and the International Monetary Fund sealed a deal early Tuesday to hand Greece €130 billion ($170 billion) in additional bailout loans to save it from a default that threatened the viability of the euro, undermining global economic confidence.

    "It's not an easy (program), it's an ambitious one," said Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, adding that there were significant risks that Greece's economy could not grow as much as its international creditors were hoping.

    The austerity measures wrought from Greece are also widely unpopular among the population and may hold difficulties for a country which is due to hold an election in April. Further protests could test politicians' commitment to cuts to wages, pensions and jobs. Read the full story.