Sex scandal rocks IMF chief

chambermaid, a scandal which could derail his hopes of running for French president.
The charges included “criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment, attempted rape” and “assaulting a 32-year-old girl in a hotel room,” police spokesman Ryan Sesa told reporters. The IMF chief, who was expected to be formally arraigned before a New York judge later yesterday, would deny everything, his lawyer said. “He will plead not guilty,” the lawyer William Taylor told AFP.
And his wife, a high-profile television journalist Anne Sinclair, said she did not believe the accusations against her 62-year-old husband.
“I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband. I have no doubt his innocence will be established,” Sinclair said in a statement sent to AFP.
The IMF chief was arrested, charged by New York police and held overnight in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, at a special unit for sexual harassment, after a maid at the top class Sofitel hotel alleged he had assaulted her when he got out of his shower naked.
From early yesterday a media gaggle gathered outside the police station, and there was a buzz as a young blonde woman wrapped in what appeared to be a white sheet was driven into the building. It was not known immediately who she was.
Strauss-Kahn, who has been widely praised for his stewardship of the IMF, is a leading member of the Socialist party and well-known on the French political scene. He is often referred to simply by his initials DSK.
He had been expected to challenge center-right French President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential race, and even though he has not yet officially declared his candidacy he had been topping the opinion polls.
The bombshell news threw the Socialist party into disarray, and could prove a boost for Sarkozy and his rightwing UMP which is also facing a challenge from the far-right National Front and its leader Marine Le Pen.
Martine Aubry, leader of the French Socialists, said the news of Strauss-Kahn’s arrest was a “thunderbolt” which left her “astounded”.
But she would not yet comment on how the presidential race might reshape itself if Strauss-Kahn is taken out of the running.
Strauss-Kahn had been taken off a flight from John F Kennedy airport just minutes before take-off.
According to media reports, the chambermaid had entered the IMF chief’s hotel suite believing it was empty. He allegedly came out of the bathroom completely naked and attempted to sexually assault her, The New York Times reported, quoting New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne.
According to the account from the maid, who had been employed at the Sofitel for three years, the IMF chief grabbed her, pulled her into the bedroom and onto the bed and then locked the door, the paper said.
She managed to fight him off, but he dragged her down the hallway to the bathroom, where he sexually assaulted her a second time, according to The Times report.
MSNBC television said that in the bathroom, Strauss-Kahn forced the maid to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. She managed to break free and fled, reporting the incident to other hotel staff and calling the 911 police emergency line.
The IMF posted a statement on its website yesterday saying Strauss-Kahn, who has headed the IMF since 2007, had been arrested and retained legal counsel.
The scandal comes at a critical moment for the 187-member IMF, which as one of the pillars of the world’s financial system, has been leading negotiations to help the debt-ridden euro zone. – AFP.