DSK to pay hotel maid $6 million over sex claim, lawyers deny reports

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has reportedly agreed to pay a $6 million settlement to the New York hotel maid whose accusations of sexual assault ruined his career, it was claimed  on Friday.

Although the criminal prosecution against the head of the International Monetary Fund and one-time French presidential contender collapsed last year, Nafissatou Diallo has pursued her allegations against Strauss-Kahn in the civil courts.

Diallo alleged that the 63-year-old forced her to perform a sex act on him while she was cleaning his Manhattan hotel suite in 2011. Strauss-Kahn admitted the sexual encounter took place but denied attacking her.

To finance the out-of-court deal, Strauss-Kahn will take out a $3 million bank loan and borrow the rest from his estranged wife, Anne Sinclair, according to Le Monde. His lawyers, however, denied a settlement had been agreed.

Sinclair, an American journalist and millionaire, stood by her husband throughout the scandal and provided his bail surety after his arrest, but the pair finally separated this summer and now live on opposite sides of Paris.

The settlement with Diallo is reportedly due to be confirmed before a New York judge next week but sources close to the case warned that the deal could still fall apart.

The Frenchman's legal difficulties will not end when a settlement is finalised, as he is yet to hear whether a French court plans to press ahead with charges of "aggravated pimping".

Prosecutors allege that he was involved in a prostitution ring run out of a luxury hotel in Lille. He denies the charges.