IMF Head Held in Alleged Sexual Assault Attempt

Maybe is that "Corporate Sex" Assault

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was pulled from an Air France flight in New York today and held for questioning about an alleged sexual assault, a police spokesman said.

The IMF head was being questioned over an incident in a Manhattan hotel, New York Police Department spokesman Brian Sessa said.

Authorities said a maid at a midtown Manhattan hotel told police that Strauss-Kahn stepped out of the bathroom naked as she was cleaning the room and assaulted her.

Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody aboard an Air France jet at John F. Kennedy International Airport, just as the doors were closing to take off on a flight to Paris.

Detectives from the New York Police Department picked up the IMF president from Port Authority police and took him to midtown for questioning.

The NYPD realized he had fled, he had left his cell phone behind," Browne said. "We learned he was on an Air France plane. They held the plane and he was taken off and is now being held in police custody for questioning."

Browne said Strauss-Kahn had not been charged.

Police said the alleged incident took place at the upscale Sofitel hotel on West 44th Street near Times Square.

The chambermaid "was brought by EMS (emergency medical services) to the Roosevelt Hotel, where she was treated for minor injuries," Brown said.

Strauss-Kahn took over the International Monetary Fund in November 2007. Before that, he was a member of the French National Assembly and a professor of economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.

The IMF declined to comment and board officials said they had not been informed officially of the incident.

Browne said the maid notified hotel managers of the alleged assault and the hotel contacted police, who arrived at about 1:30 pm.

"She reported the attack to hotel officials who called police," Browne said.

When police arrived they found Strauss-Kahn's cell phone, Browne said.

"It appeared he left in a hurry," he said.

The IMF head has "not said a word" to police since he was taken into custody, Browne said.

He was being held for questioning at the Special Victims Unit on 126th Street in Manhattan.