Here is a look at the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former International Monetary Fund Director.
Personal
Birth date: April 25, 1949
Birth place: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Birth name: Dominique Gaston Andre Strauss-Kahn
Father: Gilbert Strauss-Kahn, a legal and tax advisor
Mother: Jacqueline Fellus, a journalist
Marriages: Myriam L’Aouffir (October 2017-present); Anne Sinclair (1991-2013, divorced); Brigitte Guillemette (1984-date unavailable publicly, divorced); Helene Dumas (1967-date unavailable publicly, divorced)
Children: with Brigitte Guillemette: Camille; with Helene Dumas: Vanessa, Marine and Laurin
Education: HEC Paris (École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris), Public Law, 1971; Paris Institute of Political Studies (Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris), Political Science, 1972; University of Paris, Ph.D., Economics, 1977
Other Facts
His 2010 IMF salary was tax free, amounting to more than $500,000 with perks.
Taught economics at the prestigious Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, commonly known as Sciences Po, and at Stanford University in California.
Was considered to be the leading contender to run against Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2012 presidency of France.
Timeline
1981-1986 – Deputy Commissioner of the Economic Planning Agency.
1986 – Wins election to France’s National Assembly – the lower house of parliament.
1988-1991 – Chairs the Finance Commission.
1991- 1993 – Minister of Industry and International Trade under President Francois Mitterrand.
1997-1999 – Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry. Resigns amid allegations that as a practicing lawyer he was involved in party campaign funding irregularities. Strauss-Kahn is later cleared of the charges.
2001-2007 – Elected three times to the French National Assembly.
2006 – Loses to Segolene Royal for the Socialist Party’s presidential nomination.
November 1, 2007-May 18, 2011 – Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
2008 – Is reprimanded by the IMF for a relationship with a subordinate, Piroska Nagy.
May 14, 2011 – Is escorted off an Air France flight headed to Paris and taken to a New York police station for questioning about the alleged sexual assault of a Sofitel Hotel housekeeping employee. The hotel employee says that Strauss-Kahn attempted to force himself on her when she came to clean his room. By the time police officers arrived, Strauss-Kahn had already left the Manhattan hotel.
May 14, 2011 – Is charged with attempted rape and imprisonment of the hotel employee.
May 16, 2011 – Is denied bail and transferred to New York’s Rikers Island jail.
May 18, 2011 – Resigns his position with IMF. His 2007 contract includes a severance package with a $250,000 one-time payout and a smaller annual pension.
May 19, 2011 – Is indicted on seven counts: two counts of a criminal sexual act, two counts of sexual abuse, and one count each of attempt to commit rape, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
May 19, 2011 – Is granted bail based on these conditions: home confinement, the surrender of his travel documents, and the posting of $1 million in cash bail and a $5 million bond.
June 6, 2011 – Pleads not guilty to all seven charges.
July 1, 2011 – Is released from house arrest after prosecutors disclose that the accuser admitted to lying about certain details.
July 4, 2011 – French journalist Tristane Banon’s lawyer says that Banon will be filing a complaint claiming Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her in 2003. In anticipation of the filing, Strauss-Kahn files a counterclaim against Banon for “false declarations.”
July 5, 2011 – Banon files a criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn, alleging attempted rape.
August 8, 2011 – Nafissatou Diallo, the Manhattan maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, files a civil lawsuit against him.
August 23, 2011 – All sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn, related to Diallo, are dismissed at the request of the prosecutor.
September 3, 2011 – Leaves New York to return to France.
September 18, 2011 – In an interview with French television station TF1, Strauss-Kahn says the incident at the Sofitel Hotel was “not only an inappropriate relationship, but more than that – an error, a mistake, a mistake concerning my wife, my children, my friends, but also a mistake that the French people placed their hope in change on me.”
October 13, 2011 – French prosecutors announce that charges will not be filed against Strauss-Kahn for the alleged sexual assault of Banon due to a lack of sufficient evidence and a statute of limitations that applies to the case.
February 21-22, 2012 – Is questioned by French police about an alleged prostitution ring possibly operated out of luxury hotels.
March 26, 2012 – Strauss-Kahn is warned that he is under investigation for “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.
May 14, 2012 – Files a countersuit for at least $1 million against Diallo, the Manhattan maid who accused him of sexual assault.
May 21, 2012 – A French investigation into Strauss-Kahn’s alleged involvement in a prostitution ring widens. Authorities say that police will open a preliminary inquiry into acts that allegedly took place in Washington, DC, in December 2010, which they believe could constitute gang rape.
October 2, 2012 – A French prosecutor drops the investigation connecting Strauss-Kahn to a possible gang rape in Washington, DC. The testimony on which the investigation is based has been withdrawn and the woman is declining to press charges.
December 10, 2012 – Diallo and Strauss-Kahn reach a settlement in her civil lawsuit against him. Terms of the settlement are not released.
July 26, 2013 – Prosecutors announce that Strauss-Kahn will be tried on charges of “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.
September 17, 2013 – It is announced that Strauss-Kahn has been appointed as an economic adviser to the Serbian government.
February 2, 2015 – The trial concerning “aggravated pimping” charges against Strauss-Kahn begins.
February 17, 2015 – A prosecutor tells a French criminal court that Strauss-Kahn should be acquitted of aggravated pimping charges because of insufficient evidence. The Lille prosecutor’s office said in 2013 that evidence didn’t support the charges, but investigative magistrates nevertheless pursued the case to trial.
June 12, 2015 – Strauss-Kahn is acquitted of charges of aggravated pimping.
June 2016 – Strauss-Kahn and seven others are fined in civil court after the anti-prostitution group Mouvement du Nid appeals the June 2015 acquittal. Strauss-Kahn is ordered to pay more than $11,000 in damages to the group.
December 7, 2020 – Netflix releases “Room 2806: The Accusation,” a documentary series covering the 2011 sexual assault case involving Strauss-Kahn and Diallo.
December 15, 2022 – Le Monde reports that French authorities are investigating Strauss-Kahn for potential tax fraud related to his consulting activities in Morocco. Strauss-Kahn was one of dozens whose financial secrets and offshore dealings were released in the “Pandora Papers” by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2021.