A New York judge has denied International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn bail, after hearing that he had been involved in a similar incident “at least once before”.
Bail was denied on Monday, two days after Strauss-Kahn was pulled off a plane and accused of trying to rape a Manhattan hotel chambermaid, after Judge Melissa Jackson ruled he was a flight risk, despite an offer from the IMF chief’s defence team to put up $1-million in cash and surrender all his travel documents.
His lawyers had said that he would live with his daughter in New York if he were granted bail.
The IMF chief, who denies all charges leveled against him, had been involved in similar incidents “at least once,” the court heard during the bail hearing.
There were “reports that he has engaged in conduct similar to this on at least one other occasion,” the prosecutor said.
Strauss-Kahn was remanded in custody until the next court hearing, which was set for May 20.
Strauss-Kahn was “disappointed” by the ruling, but his lawyer insisted the IMF chief would mount a vigorous defense, saying “this battle has just begun”. — AFP