IMF Leadership Thrown Into Disarray

[nmap]

Interesting since Strauss-Kahn was planning to run for the Presidency of France and was, apparently, a prime mover toward a bailout plan for Greece. It looks as if the world is going to get another dose of complexity.



LINK

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and a presidential hopeful in France, has been arrested and charged with attempted rape, criminal sexual act and unlawful imprisonment, New York City police and the IMF said on Sunday.


His personal attorney, William Taylor, confirmed that Mr. Strauss-Kahn would plead not guilty to the charges today, suggesting he will be arraigned on Sunday.

The arrest is set to change the course of France's presidential elections next year, likely depriving the Socialist Part of its most promising candidate and boosting the chances of reelection for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.


"Whatever the outcome of the procedure is, [Mr. Strauss-Kahn] will not be able to run for president," said Jacques Attali, a former advisor to France's late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand.

The arrest of Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62 years old, who was apprehended by police in the first-class section of an Air France plane minutes before it left New York for Paris on Saturday night, also throws into disarray the leadership of the IMF, whose intervention has played a key role helping European leaders manage the continent's debt crisis.

A law enforcement official in New York said Mr. Strauss-Kahn was taken into police custody on Saturday night after being removed from the Air France plane. Mr. Strauss-Kahn allegedly forced a cleaning woman onto his bed and sexually assaulted her at around 1 p.m. Saturday inside his room at the Sofitel Hotel near Times Square, the official said.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn allegedly allowed the woman to leave and then departed for the airport, the official said. The alleged victim informed co-workers who then alerted authorities, the official said. Mr. Strauss-Kahn left personal belongings behind in his hotel room, including a mobile phone, the official added. Mr. Strauss-Kahn's attorneys in New York and in Paris didn't immediately return phone or email messages seeking comment.

"Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case," the IMF said in a statemeThe Port Authority police, which has jurisdiction over the city's airports, was acting at the request of the NYPD, said John Kelly, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority turned Mr. Strauss-Kahn over to the NYPD after he was taken into custody. Later in the night, Mr. Strauss-Kahn was formally charged with sexual assault and attempted rape, the NYPD later said in a statement.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn's arrest is likely to have big repercussions in France, where the French politician was widely expected to participate in France's Socialist Party primaries and to announce his candidacy as early as late May. The Socialist Party is holding primaries this fall, but candidates have been requested to apply between June 28 and July 13.

Recent opinion polls suggested that Mr. Strauss-Kahn would easily win the Socialist Party nomination and would also go on to defeat France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in a run-off, due in May 2012.

"It's a thunderbolt," France's Socialist Party chief Martine Aubry told reporters on Sunday. Ms. Aubry is now likely to be the frontrunner in the Socialist primaries, though analysts say she would have a much harder time defeating Mr. Sarkozy in a general election.

The arrest of Mr. Strauss-Kahn also comes at a pivotal time for the IMF. John Lipsky, Mr. Strauss-Kahn's deputy, said last week that he is resigning in August. Mr Lipsky, the Deputy Managing Director, helped Mr. Strauss-Kahn usher the fund through the global financial crisis. He has agreed to stay on as a consultant through November.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn has shepherded the IMF through a period of expanding supervisory heft and power following the global economic crisis. In the past year, the fund has played a central role in the bailouts of ailing euro-zone nations Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

[glebo]

That's gonna have domino effects. But, yet another who thinks he is "above the law"...

Gonna get verrry interesting (German Laugh-in guy)..you FOG's will know

[Utah Bob]

Sacre bleu!
I was simply preparing to get dressed when ze maid entert my room unannounzed.
I was zo startled zat I slipped and fell on top of her in my nakedness.

Ziss iss a mizunderstanding!

If he's guilty, I hope he gets thrown in jail real quick, where he can become some scum bag's French girlfriend...
I can already see it in my head :" Oh non, jamal, ne soies pas si dur. Ne me frappes pas las bas!! Pliz, le CO, le brother iz spanking moi again!!!"

LOL

[JJ_BPK]

"Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)", asks Stanley as he beats Stella,, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams, 1947

[Peregrino]

Sarkozy is probably ecstatic. Though the French have always been willing to engage in "interesting" politics. Makes one wonder which intel service will eventually get credit for it.

[glebo]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

Sacre bleu!
I was simply preparing to get dressed when ze maid entert my room unannounzed.
I was zo startled zat I slipped and fell on top of her in my nakedness.

Ziss iss a mizunderstanding!

ehhh, UTBob, I think he was French (shows ya what I know). You have a very Prussian accent in your post...

[GratefulCitizen]

IMF official charged with sodomy.

If the victim files a civil suit, maybe the entire world could join in a class-action.

[nmap]

My, my. How the mighty art fallen.


LINK

A New York City judge denied bail to International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn today before sending him to jail until Friday, calling him a flight risk despite arguments to the contrary by his high-powered defense team.

Wearing a black jacket and a light colored shirt, Strauss-Kahn looked haggard but displayed a sense of haughtiness as he heard his short-term fate.

His attorneys had denied the seven counts against him, which included allegedly forcing a housekeeper at the Sofitel Hotel to perform oral sex, and allegedly forcing her to submit to anal sex after allegedly taking her prisoner inside a $3,000 a night luxury suite.

All told, he has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of attempted rape, sexual abuse in the first degree, unlawful imprisonment, sexual abuse in the third degree and forcible touching. The complaint charges that he forcibly touched the housekeeper's breasts, attempted to pull off her panty hose, twice "forcibly made contact with his penis and the informant's mouth" and that "the defendant engaged in oral sexual conduct and anal sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion."

His defense team – Ben Brafman and William Taylor, among the best criminal defense attorney's money can buy -- had spent hours behind the scenes attempting to structure terms that would allow their client to stay out of jail while defending himself against the charges.

The office of District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. asked that Strauss-Kahn be remanded to jail, a course of action that took shape in the hours after Strauss-Kahn's arrest Saturday as the prosecutor's office wrestled with how to balance the rights of the accused with the facts of the case, and his potential to flee their jurisdiction.

"This guy has every reason to run, and the law may even help him hide from this situation," one investigator said.

He has personal, political and financial resources to evade capture, the DA's office said in open court. He is, an assistant district attorney said, an "incurable" flight risk.

The international money man was already aboard a plane scheduled to depart for Paris when police caught up with him Saturday, moments before the door to Air France Flight 23 was to be closed. He was sitting calmly, reading a magazine when Port Authority Police approached him to take him from the plane, officials said

Brafman countered in court that Strauss Kahn had a "very Important" incentive to clear his name.

He added that it was inaccurate to suggest that Strauss-Kahn rushed to the airport. Brafman said his client had been at a several hours-long lunch appointment between the time of the alleged incident and the flight from Kennedy Airport.

Brafman also argued that the evidence was inconsistent with a forced encounter, adding that his client is willing to stay with his daughter, who lives in New York City.

Strauss-Kahn, until this weekend, oversaw the International Monetary Fund, a body established to keep the global monetary system stable, with the ability to lend hundreds of billions of dollars.

He was considered a legitimate contender for the French presidency in an upcoming election, and his arrest has reportedly sparked "shock and disbelief" in France.

He is likely now to be placed in a protected unit inside the city jail at Rikers Island.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by GratefulCitizen

IMF official charged with sodomy.

If the victim files a civil suit, maybe the entire world could join in a class-action.

Roger that. Fucking crooks.

[Utah Bob]

Originally Posted by glebo

ehhh, UTBob, I think he was French (shows ya what I know). You have a very Prussian accent in your post...

I just assumed he was Franco-Prussian.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

I just assumed he was Franco-Prussian.

That would be Alsace-Lorraine to the Francophiles; Lothringen to the Germanophiles. So...which is it?

Richard

[Utah Bob]

Originally Posted by Richard

That would be Alsace-Lorraine to the Francophiles; Lothringen to the Germanophiles. So...which is it?

Richard

I think he looks a little Alsacian around the eyes.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

I think he looks a little Alsacian around the eyes.

Personally, I prefer Golden Retrievers.

Richard

[steel71]

Of course, he's a member of the socialist party in France. A banker and socialist fits like a hand into a glove. I'm sure this isn't his first dance with the devil, but why press charges now? Who benefits? Sarkozy?