Ex-IMF chief Strauss-Kahn goes on trial for pimping in France and Belgium

Disgraced former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn goes on trial in France on Monday accused of aggravated pimping as part of a prostitution ring. Strauss-Kahn and more than a dozen other French and Belgian businessmen will be tried in the northern city of Lille. Luxury hotel managers, police, freemasons and a brothel owner nicknamed “Dodo the Pimp” are also standing trial.

Specifically the charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn can be translated best as aggravated pimping, so participating in a structured prostitution ring involving a number of women operating both in France and in Belgium.

Lawyer Christopher Mesnooh

Prostitutes questioned in the case said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel and a restaurant in Paris and also in Washington, where he lived while working for the International Monetary Fund, and in Brussels. His lawyers said he had attended “libertine” gatherings, but denied knowing the women were paid. In France, it is not against the law to pay for sex, but is illegal to solicit or run a prostitution business. During the high-profile three-week trial, lurid details of group sex and high-end prostitution are expected to emerge.

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