Dominique Strauss-Kahn was facing charges of pimping

By Henry Samuel, Paris

7:49PM BST 26 Mar 2012

Mr Strauss-Kahn was initially due to appear on Wednesday, but judges inexplicably brought forward the summons to Monday evening.

It could see him placed under official investigation as a suspect in a corruption probe into alleged orgies with prostitutes in Paris and Washington paid for by two businessmen.

The 62-year-old ex-Socialist minister was seen as the front-runner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France until his arrest last May on criminal rape charges on a New York maid, which were later dropped.

Last month, he was detained on suspicion of "aggravated complicity in pimping as part of an organised gang" and "complicity in the misuse of company funds". He was released after two and a half days of questioning.

This time, judges are expected to either place him under investigation or make him an "assisted witness", a lesser degree of incrimination. If they opt for the first choice, he could be remanded in custody pending an eventual trial, or released on bail. The charges carry a maximum 20-year prison term.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9168174/DSK-facing-pimping-charges-as-hes-questioned-by-judges.html

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Comment by Maria De Wind on March 27, 2012 at 8:55am

Comment by Maria De Wind on March 27, 2012 at 8:45am: Prostitution, bribing and "entertaining' foreign functionaries was not only legal but common business practice in France till not long ago. Prostitution still is but organized prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings and other forms of pimping) are prohibited

Comment by truth on March 26, 2012 at 6:10pm: update!

LILLE, France — Disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged Monday with involvement in an organised vice ring that procured prostitutes for top-class clients, lawyers said.

Prosecutors said the 62-year-old former Socialist finance minister and one-time presidential favourite had been released on 100,000 euros ($135,000) bail following the charges.

Strauss-Kahn was called in by investigating magistrates in the northern French city of Lille two days earlier than expected and charged with an offence that could carry 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

“He firmly declares that he is not guilty of these acts and never had the least inkling that the women he met could have been prostitutes,” said Richard Malka, one of Strauss-Kahn’s counsel.

“Dominique Strauss-Kahn was placed under judicial control and was forbidden from contacting defendants, civil plaintiffs, witnesses and the press regarding the procedures,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Strauss-Kahn’s name came up as police were investigating a pimping operation that saw sex workers from brothels over the Belgian border being brought to France for orgies in high-class hotels in Lille and Paris.

Strauss-Kahn admits that he took part in some of these parties, one of which was said to involve women being flown to Washington to entertain him while he was still managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/26/frances-strauss-kahn-charged-...