(May 15, New York, Sri Lanka Guardian) The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a possible candidate for president of France was pulled from an airplane moments before he was to fly to Paris and was being questioned Saturday by police in connection with the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid, police said.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and turned over to police on Saturday afternoon, said Paul J. Browne, New York Police Department spokesman.
He was being questioned by the NYPD special victims’ office. Strauss-Kahn had retained an attorney and was not making statements to police, Browne said.
"He's being arrested for a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment," Browne said. The 32-year-old woman told authorities that she entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square at about 1pm Eastern time (1600 GMT) Saturday and he attacked her, Browne said.
She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3000-a-night-suite suite, which she had been told was empty. According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her.
She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said. They called police.
When New York City police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his cellphone, Browne said. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.
The NYPD discovered that he was at the airport and contacted Port Authority officials, who plucked Kahn from first class on the Air France flight that was scheduled to depart at 4:40 p.m. and was just about to leave the gate.
The maid was taken by police to a hospital and being treated for minor injuries. John Sheehan, a spokesman for the hotel, said its staff was cooperating in the investigation. Strauss-Kahn was briefly investigated in 2008 over whether he had an improper relationship with a subordinate female employee.
The IMF board found his actions "regrettable" and said they "reflected a serious error of judgment." William Murray, a spokesman for the IMF in Washington, said the IMF had no immediate comment.
Strauss-Kahn took over as head of the IMF in November 2007.
He won praise for his leadership at the IMF during the financial crisis of 2008 and the severe global recession that followed.
More recently, he has directed the IMF's participation in bailout efforts to keep a European debt crisis which began in Greece from destabilizing the global economy. In October 2008, Strauss-Kahn issued an apology to the IMF staff after accusations that he had a sexual relationship with an IMF subordinate.
"While this incident constituted an error in judgment on my part, for which I take full responsibility, I firmly believe that I have not abused my position,"
Strauss-Kahn wrote in an email to IMF staff. The board found that the relationship was consensual.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and turned over to police on Saturday afternoon, said Paul J. Browne, New York Police Department spokesman.
He was being questioned by the NYPD special victims’ office. Strauss-Kahn had retained an attorney and was not making statements to police, Browne said.
"He's being arrested for a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment," Browne said. The 32-year-old woman told authorities that she entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square at about 1pm Eastern time (1600 GMT) Saturday and he attacked her, Browne said.
She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3000-a-night-suite suite, which she had been told was empty. According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her.
She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said. They called police.
When New York City police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his cellphone, Browne said. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.
The NYPD discovered that he was at the airport and contacted Port Authority officials, who plucked Kahn from first class on the Air France flight that was scheduled to depart at 4:40 p.m. and was just about to leave the gate.
The maid was taken by police to a hospital and being treated for minor injuries. John Sheehan, a spokesman for the hotel, said its staff was cooperating in the investigation. Strauss-Kahn was briefly investigated in 2008 over whether he had an improper relationship with a subordinate female employee.
The IMF board found his actions "regrettable" and said they "reflected a serious error of judgment." William Murray, a spokesman for the IMF in Washington, said the IMF had no immediate comment.
Strauss-Kahn took over as head of the IMF in November 2007.
He won praise for his leadership at the IMF during the financial crisis of 2008 and the severe global recession that followed.
More recently, he has directed the IMF's participation in bailout efforts to keep a European debt crisis which began in Greece from destabilizing the global economy. In October 2008, Strauss-Kahn issued an apology to the IMF staff after accusations that he had a sexual relationship with an IMF subordinate.
"While this incident constituted an error in judgment on my part, for which I take full responsibility, I firmly believe that I have not abused my position,"
Strauss-Kahn wrote in an email to IMF staff. The board found that the relationship was consensual.
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