Combo of former International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (L) and Nafissatou Diallo(R)
In August, prosecutors dropped the sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, after a three-month criminal investigation. The 62-year-old was accused of sexually assaulting hotel maid Nofissatou Diallo, an immigrant worker. In a case that was filled with dramatic twists and turns, Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody on May 14 after being taken off an Air France jet at Kennedy International Airport. When the charges were dropped, Strauss-Kahn issued his first statement since the embarrassing arrest saying that it was “a nightmare for me and my family.” Reuters

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's criminal charges will be dropped, prosecutors determined in a meeting Monday afternoon.

Strauss-Kahn faced sexual-assault charges over the alleged rape of a hotel housekeeper in May. The housekeeper's attorney, who attended the meeting, told reporters that the former International Monetary Fund chief will no longer face criminal charges.

The Manhattan attorney, Cyrus Vance, has denied the right to a woman to get justice in a rape case, said Kenneth Thompson, who is representing Nafissatou Diallo, according to RNW.

The maid's credibility has suffered in the months since the initial accusation, and Strauss-Kahn's defense has suggested that the sexual encounter was consensual. Moreover, Diallo's relationship with a supposed drug-dealer, who may have encouraged the housemaid to sleep with the millionaire, has also shed doubt on her claim.

The revelation that Diallo lied about the event as well as her whereabouts afterward led to the July 1 release of Strauss-Kahn from house arrest.

Prosecutors filed papers with the New York City court early Monday morning. He still faces civil charges in a suit filed by Diallo on Aug. 8, as well as a complaint by Tristane Banon, a French journalist who said the banker tried to molest her in 2003.

The prosecutors' decision could re-ignite Strauss-Kahn's stalled political career. He was a front-runner to take over as France's next president before the charges were filed. A July poll said that two-thirds of the French people wouldn't want Strauss-Kahn to run for office, but if the civil suit goes his way, those figures could drastically change.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers still insist that the Diallo's case has no ground, and she is simply looking for a pay-day.

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