Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Dominique Strauss-Kahn To Testify About Hooker Sex Parties

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief who was tipped to become French president before being accused of sexual assault by a New York maid in 2011, will testify to a criminal court on Tuesday over his alleged role in sex parties with prostitutes.

The allegations that he participated in a French sex ring have dogged the once prominent Socialist ever since criminal charges were dropped against him in the New York case and he settled a civil case with chambermaid Nafissatou Diallo.

Strauss-Kahn, 65, is accused of instigating parties he knew involved prostitutes between 2008-2011 in the northern French city of Lille, Brussels, Paris and Washington D.C.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers acknowledge their client took part in the parties but say he did not know the women were prostitutes and so reject the charge against him of pimping, or “procuring with aggravating circumstances.”

Investigating magistrates say that charge applies because in France it covers any activity seen as facilitating prostitution. In Strauss-Kahn’s case, it is alleged that he allowed his rented apartment to be used for sex parties involving prostitutes and that the parties were organized for his benefit.

Moreover, because he did not pay them himself, he is alleged to have received benefit in kind from prostitution.

Strauss-Kahn, who says his political career is over, risks as much as 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 1.5 million euros ($1.72 million) if convicted.

The three-week trial began last week. Strauss-Kahn is expected to respond on Tuesday for the first time to the testimony of two former prostitutes who say they participated in the parties.

Fourteen people, including Strauss-Kahn, are defendants in the “Carlton Affair” trial, so named after the hotel in Lille that sparked the investigation into a sex ring.

The accusations made against Strauss-Kahn by the New York maid in 2011 made it impossible for him to run on the Socialist ticket for the presidential election in the following year. That allowed Francois Hollande to come forward and beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

Strauss-Kahn served as French finance minister in the late 1990s. He then became one of the world’s most influential decision-makers in 2007 as head of the International Monetary Fund, a public lender that plays a central role worldwide in the rescue of failing economies.

That high-flying career ended in May 2011 when he was escorted handcuffed into custody in New York following Diallo’s accusations.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.