Investigators have told Christine Lagarde, the French head of the International Monetary Fund, that they intend to charge her with fraud today in a move that would increase pressure on her to resign.

The managing director of the world’s foremost economic institution has been summoned by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) in Paris over claims that she squandered €403 million (£345 million) of taxpayers’ money in an illegal deal.

Le Monde, the French newspaper, said that magistrates had written to Mrs Lagarde to tell her that she would be questioned with a view to placing her under investigation, the equivalent of charging a suspect in the UK, for allegedly aiding and abetting embezzlement and fraud.

That would represent a fresh blow