NEW YORK CITY: Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Monday agreed a financial settlement with a New York hotel maid who had accused him of sexual assault.

A judge ordered that details of the deal between Strauss-Kahn and Nafissatou Diallo, a 33-year-old illiterate migrant from Guinea, be kept confidential.

Diallo said the one-time French presidential hopeful emerged naked from the bathroom of the hotel suite she was cleaning and forced her to perform oral sex. Strauss-Kahn said the acts were consensual.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers have dismissed reports that the maid would receive several million dollars, but experts said a subs-tantial payment is the norm in such a case.

Strauss-Kahn, 63, was not in New York for the hearing. He is also under investigation over other scandals in France.

Monday’s accord enables him to close one chapter. But Strauss-Kahn has another tough legal date on December 19, when he will learn whether he faces an investigation into pimping charges arising from allegations that he helped arranged sex parties with prostitutes for wealthy men.         

AFP