Disgraced French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn reached a $6 million settlement with the hotel maid who accused him of rape, the New York Daily News reports, quoting the Associated Press and French media. The out-of-court deal marks the end of a sensational legal saga that snuffed the former International Monetary Fund chief's presidential hopes and prompted headlines across the globe. Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn and the housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, reached an agreement brokered by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon.
The case stems from the notorious May 2011 encounter inside the Sofitel New York hotel. Diallo, 33, cast it as a heinous sexual crime; Strauss-Kahn, 63, described it as a “moral failing.” The two crossed paths when she arrived to clean his luxury hotel suite. An immigrant from Guinea, Diallo told police that Strauss-Kahn ambushed her inside his room, dragged her into the bathroom, tried to yank down her pantyhose and ultimately forced her to perform oral sex. Hours after the encounter, Strauss-Kahn was pulled off a Paris-bound jet at Kennedy Airport and hauled away in handcuffs. Other tawdry allegations emerged against the Strauss-Kahn, who was forced to resign as head of the International Monetary Fund. The criminal case against him unraveled when prosecutors discovered the maid had lied on her asylum application, and that she had ties to a drug dealer.