Dominique Strauss-Kahn To Pay New York Maid $6 million

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has reportedly agreed to pay a $6 million settlement to the New York hotel maid whose accusations of sexual assault ruined his career.

Although the criminal prosecution against the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and one-time French presidential contender collapsed last year, Nafissatou Diallo has pursued her allegations against Mr Strauss-Kahn in the civil courts.
Miss Diallo alleged that the 63-year-old forced her to perform oral sex on him while she was cleaning his Manhattan hotel suite in 2011. Mr Strauss-Kahn admitted making the sexual encounter but denied attacking her.
To finance the out-of-court deal, Mr Strauss-Kahn will take out a $3 million bank loan and borrow the rest from his estranged wife, Anne Sinclair, according to Le Monde.

Nafissatou Diallo

Ms Sinclair, an American journalist and millionaire, stood by her husband throughout the scandal and provided bail money after his arrest but the pair finally separated this summer and now live on opposite sides of Paris.
The settlement with Miss Diallo is reportedly due to be confirmed before a New York judge next week but sources close to the case warned that the deal could still fall apart.
"We are moving towards the end of a tragedy," Michele Saban, a friend of Mr Strauss-Kahn's told Reuters in Paris.
If a settlement is reached it will bring a close to the chapter that destroyed the Frenchman's career at the top level of international finance.
However, it will not mark the end of his legal difficulties as he waits to hear whether a French court plans to press ahead with charges of "aggravated pimping".
Prosecutors allege that he was involved in a prostitution ring run out of a luxury hotel in Lille.
Mr Strauss-Kahn admits attending the "libertine" parties but said he did not know the women involved were prostitutes and his lawyers are seeking to have the charges dismissed.
The court's ruling is due on December 19.