The glamorous French minister hoping to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the International Monetary Fund was today facing prosecution for financial sleaze.

Christine Lagarde, a 55-year-old former lawyer and synchronised swimmer, is being investigated for abusing her position to help a controversial businessman.

She is said to have awarded some £270million to Bernard Tapie, a convicted football match fixer and tax dodger who supported her governing UMP party.

The allegation comes after Strauss-Kahn’s arrest for the attempted rape of a chambermaid and a range of other sex crimes in a New York hotel.