Strauss-Kahn questioned in prostitution probe

The former IMF chief has been detained by police to be questioned over allegations that he attended sex sessions organised by a prostitution ring that allegedly supplied clients of Lille’s luxury Carlton Hotel.

Police are attempting to establish whether Strauss-Kahn knew that women at parties he attended in Paris, Brussels and Washington were prostitutes who were being paid. It is alleged the money to pay the women came from the corporate funds of a major French construction company.

He will be held in custody until Thursday morning on suspicion of ‘complicity in pimping’ and ‘misuse of company funds’. After that, it is expected that he will either be released or formally investigated.

People are not always clothed at these parties. I challenge you to tell the difference between a nude prostitute and a classy lady in the nude. Henri Leclerc, lawyer

Company funds

Eight people, including two Lille businesmen close to Strauss-Kahn and a police commissioner, have already been arrested in the case, and construction firm, Eiffage, fired an executive suspected of using company funds to hire sex workers.

Although paying for prostitutes is not illegal in France, procuring them for another and using company funds to pay for them could lead to formal charges.

However, his lawyer, Henri Leclerc, has said Mr Strauss-Kahn had no reason to think the women were prostitutes.

“People are not always clothed at these parties. I challenge you to tell the difference between a nude prostitute and a classy lady in the nude,” the lawyer told French radio.

Sex allegations

Since being arrested in May last year over allegations that he sexually assaulted a New York hotel chambermaid, Mr Strauss-Kahn’s career has shrunk into the shadows. The case broke as he was on the verge of standing for the French presidency, and he quit his post as head of the IMF before charges were dropped.

Another complaint by French writer Tristane Banon that he had tried to rape her in 2003 as she interviewed him for her book was later dropped after prosecutors said the case had passed the time limit.

However he has recently begun to make a comeback on the international speech circuit.

His appearance before police is taking place a few weeks before he is due to speak alongside Luxembourg Prime Minister and Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker at a conference in Brussels next month.