AFP/New York
A television monitor shows photographers congregating at the front door of the townhouse where former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair are staying in New York
Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s defence team has denied allegations made in a New York tabloid that the ex-IMF chief had engaged in sex for money with the hotel maid who accused him of assaulting her.
“There was no dispute between the parties because there was no discussion about money,” Strauss-Kahn’s legal team led by lawyers Benjamin Brafman and William Taylor said in a statement to AFP.
The New York Post said yesterday that the former IMF chief and his assault accuser, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea, had engaged in sex acts in his luxury suite, and that afterwards there “was an expectation of money after the fact, but he was dismissive”.
The Post, citing a source close to the defense’s investigation team, has said the maid often traded sex for money with male guests at the Sofitel hotel.
The sex assault case against Strauss-Kahn appears to be hanging by a thread as damning new revelations – including claims of money laundering and drug dealing – have eroded his accuser’s credibility, and prompted a judge to release him from house arrest.
Taylor and Brafman maintain that the disclosures “only further confirm that he will be fully exonerated”.