FORMER INTERNATIONAL MONETARY (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has agreed an undisclosed financial settlement with the New York hotel maid who had accused the leading French politician of sexual assault.
In a brief hearing before a packed Bronx court, Judge Douglas McKeon said the terms of the agreement between the 63-year-old economist and Guinean maid Nafissatou Diallo would remain “confidential”.
“About 10 minutes ago we reached a settlement in this case which was put on record,” he said, adding he had met lawyers for the parties on November 28 and that: “Earlier today we came together to sign to sign the terms on the table.”
Outside the court, Diallo said: “I thank everyone who supports me. I thank God, and God bless you all.”
Her lawyer Kenneth Thompson called her a “courageous woman who never lost faith in our system of justice. With this resolution she can now move on with her life.”
The judge said Diallo had also settled a separate defamation suit against the tabloid New York Post, which falsely alleged she was a prostitute.
The deal brings to a close one of a series of embarrassing probes into Strauss-Kahn’s sexual conduct since Diallo first accused him of launching a naked assault on her in his hotel suite in May 2011.
Before her allegation, Strauss-Kahn had been a leading contender for the French presidency, and the case caused shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic, leaving his once-glittering political career in tatters.
Diallo, a 33-year-old Muslim immigrant, attended the hearing dressed in a headscarf, green blouse and black trousers, but did not speak.
Strauss-Kahn remained in France where he is trying to relaunch himself as an economic consultant and public speaker.
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