Former IMF head Strauss-Kahn pimp probe continues

The case, known as the "Carlton affair" in France, centers on allegations that business leaders and police officials in Lille operated a vice ring supplying girls for sex parties, some of which are said to have taken place at the Carlton Hotel in the northern city.

In addition to Strauss-Kahn, the accused include Jean-Christophe Lagarde, a police commissioner, and Rene Kojfer, the former public relations officer at the Carlton.

Lawyers for Lagarde and Kojfer have claimed their clients have been caught up in a political witch hunt against Strauss-Kahn, arguing there would not have been a probe if the former IMF chief had not been involved.

The Carlton case is one of a series of investigations launched in the aftermath of Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York.

The case against Strauss-Kahn hinges on whether he knew he was partying with prostitutes, and whose money was used to pay them. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have said he attended "libertine" gatherings, but did not know some women present were paid.

French writer Tristane Banon accused him of trying to rape her in 2003. Investigators concluded that while there was evidence of sexual assault, the alleged attack had occurred too long ago to be prosecuted.

Strauss-Kahn was also investigated over an allegation that he had taken part in the gang rape of a Belgian prostitute. That was dropped when she recanted and said she had consented to sex.

Before his six-minute encounter with Diallo in New York, DSK, as he is known in France, had looked certain to secure the Socialist Party's nomination in the 2012 presidential election.

As it was, Strauss-Kahn's fall from grace cleared the way for party insider Francois Hollande to claim the nomination and go on to comfortably defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

Strauss-Kahn was left to pick up the pieces of a shattered life. His third wife, Anne Sinclair, stood by him in the immediate aftermath of his New York arrest, but left him this year.

Sinclair, a wealthy heiress and former news announcer on French TV, was reported by Le Monde to have provided her former partner with some of the money he needed to pay off Diallo.

AFP-AP