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The former French finance minister told the AFP news agency that she had no intention of resigning from her position at the IMF over the investigation.
"I return back to Washington where I will indeed brief my board," she said.
The case revolves around a controversial €400 million state payout ordered by an arbitration panel in 2008 for Tapie over his sale of sportswear company Adidas. The arbitration panel upheld Tapie's claim that the now defunct Crédit Lyonnais bank had defrauded him by intentionally undervaluing Adidas at the time of the sale and that the state – as the bank's principal shareholder – should compensate him.
Critics have said the deal was too generous, and was symptomatic of the cosy relationship between money and power in France
It was Lagarde who, in her role as French finance minister at the time, ordered the case to be heard by an arbitration panel instead of proceeding through the regular courts.
The shocking news that Lagarde had been placed under formal investigation in the case came just a day after she was questioned for the fourth time by a special court in Paris, which handles ministerial misconduct.
Lagarde, who has always denied any wrongdoing, said that she planned to challenge the decision.
"I have instructed my lawyer to appeal this decision which I consider totally without merit," she said.
-FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP
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