A police probe into pimping at a French luxury hotel has uncovered evidence that Dominique Strauss-Kahn attended sex soirees with prostitutes paid for by businessmen, newspapers reported Friday. Police investigating the case are also looking into trips made by the businessmen and a city police chief to Washington when Strauss-Kahn was head of the International Monetary Fund there, the Liberation and Le Figaro dailies said.
The last such trip ended on May 13 this year, the day before New York police arrested Strauss-Kahn for the alleged sexual assault of a hotel chambermaid.
Those charges were dropped after prosecutors deemed the alleged victim unreliable, although she is pursuing a civil case against the 62-year-old Socialist politician, who had been tipped as France’s next president.
The French case began after the manager and the public relations chief of the Carlton hotel in the northern city of Lille were arrested and charged with arranging prostitutes for guests with the help of a pimp based in Belgium.
Lille police chief Jean-Christophe Lagarde, who was detained by police on Thursday for questioning as part of the pimping probe, allegedly attended evenings at a luxury Paris hotel along with prostitutes and Strauss-Kahn.
According to Le Figaro, David Roquet, head of a subsidiary of construction giant Eiffage, paid part of the tab from the Paris hotel sex soirees, billing his company with invoices marked with Strauss-Kahn’s initials “DSK”.
Police have also questioned another Lille businessman, identified as Fabrice P., who is also suspected of paying a part of the bill. According to Roquet’s testimony to police, cited by Le Figaro, “Fabrice P. told me that we would dine with Mr Strauss-Kahn and that he would like me to bring girlfriends, meaning prostitutes.”
Strauss-Kahn sex soirees paid for by businessmen
