Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was formally charged by a French court on Monday over his role in a prostitution case, his lawyer said.
He was formally charged late Monday night with "aggravated pimping" for helping to procure prostitutes for sex parties that he attended in Washington, Paris and other cities. Strauss-Kahn denies knowing that they were prostitutes
The charges, brought in the northern French city of Lille, is yet another scandal for the 63-old-economist and Socialist Party politician. Until last May he was heavily faovored to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s two-round presidential election scheduled April 23 and May 6.
The charges in Lille were separate from the sexual assault charges he faces in New York after a hotel maid accused him of raping her in his room. Although criminal charges were dropped, he still faces a civil suit brough by the maid.
The Washington Post reports that Strauss-Kahn charges in Lille "meant the magistrates there concluded Strauss-Kahn’s conduct, along with the others, should be investigated further with an eye to putting him on trial."
Strauss-Kahn has denied the allegations against him, arguing that he was unaware women he met at parties organised by business associates in Lille, Paris and Washington were prostitutes.
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