Thaindian News

Washington, July 1 (IANS) The sexual assault case against former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is about to collapse, New York Times reported Friday.

A 32-year-old chambermaid had alleged that Strauss-Kahn attacked her, tore at her clothes and tried to force her to perform oral sex in his hotel room May 14.

NYT said that there is evidence of a sexual encounter, but prosecutors do not believe much of what the woman has told them about the circumstances or about herself.

The media report quoted a law enforcement official as saying that the chambermaid has repeatedly lied.

The Guinean housekeeper’s asylum application is under the scanner and there could be possible links to people involved in criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering.

NYT described the latest revelations as a stunning change of fortune for 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn who was considered to be a strong contender for the French presidency before he was accused of sexually assaulting the woman in his luxury suite at the Sofitel New York.

The woman maintains that she was attacked, the officials said.

“It is a mess, a mess on both sides,” one official said.

Two officials cited by NYT said that the woman had a phone conversation with a man in jail within a day of her encounter with Strauss-Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against him.

The conversation was recorded.

That man she spoke to had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana.

Investigators have also learnt that she was paying hundreds of dollars every month in phone charges to five companies, though the accuser had said she had only one phone.

Strauss-Kahn resigned from the IMF and was required to post $1 million bail and a $5 million bond.

He also agreed to remain under 24-hour home confinement while wearing an ankle monitor.