Paris: Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was found guilty on Monday of criminal charges linked to the misuse of public funds during her time as France's finance minister, a verdict that could force her out of her post.

Lagarde, who began her second five-year term at the IMF in February, will not face any jail time, the judge said. The scandal has overshadowed her work at the fund, to which she was appointed in 2011 after Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as managing director when he was accused of having sexually assaulted a maid in a New York City hotel.

The move is likely to destabilise the IMF as it faces a host of thorny issues, including questions over its participation in a multibillion-dollar bailout for Greece and uncertainty about the role of the US in the organisation once Donald Trump becomes president in January.

The verdict was a surprise, after the prosecutor in the trial said last week the case against her was "very weak" and did not appear to be enough to win a conviction. It is a theme prosecutors have previously repeated.