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Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Former IMF Chief, Goes On Trial For Sex Charges, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is going on trial for sex charges in France — the nation where he once was considered a top presidential contender.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, whose career went down in flames amid accusations of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York, is facing similarly shocking charges in France: aggravated pimping and involvement in a prostitution ring operating out of luxury hotels.

The French economist known widely as DSK faces up to 10 years in prison and a 1.5 million-euro ($1.7 million) fine, as he and more than a dozen other French and Belgian businessmen and police officers go on trial beginning Monday in the northern French city of Lille.

The trial is scheduled to last three weeks, with Strauss-Kahn not expected to testify until Feb. 10.

Investigators have compiled hundreds of pages of testimony from prostitutes describing the orgies allegedly organized by the 65-year-old Strauss-Kahn and his co-defendants, centered on the expensive Carlton Hotel in Lille near the Belgian border. Strauss-Kahn says he took part in "libertine" activities but insists he never knew the women involved were prostitutes.

It is not illegal to pay for sex in France, but it is against the law to solicit or to run a prostitution business.

Hundreds of reporters are expected to cover the trial, which comes nearly four years after accusations that Strauss-Kahn had sexually assaulted Guinean-born Nafissatou Diallo, accusations that ended his high-flying finance career.

As head of the Washington D.C.-based IMF between 2007 and 2011, Strauss-Kahn was a globe-trotting financial mandarin who was also tipped to become the French Socialist party's presidential candidate for the 2012 election.

That was before he was arrested, put in handcuffs before the world's TV cameras and locked up in New York City's Rikers Island prison for four days. Diallo told police he forced her to perform oral sex, tried to rape her and tore a ligament in her shoulder after she arrived to clean his luxury suite at the Hotel Sofitel in New York in May 2011.

Strauss-Kahn was forced to resign from his $500,000-a-year position as head of the IMF, even though New York prosecutors dropped the case three months later because they said Diallo had undercut her credibility by lying about her background and changing her account of her actions right after the alleged attack.

Strauss-Kahn said the sexual encounter was consensual but called it "a moral failing."

Diallo later reached a confidential settlement with Strauss-Kahn in a separate civil complaint.

No sooner had the U.S. action ended than Strauss-Kahn was named in the Carlton Affair, as the pimping affair has been called. French police detained and questioned him for 30 hours in 2012 as part of their probe into the alleged prostitution ring.

Prostitutes questioned in the case said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn between 2009 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, at a restaurant in the French capital and also in Washington, D.C.

Prosecutors filed preliminary charges of aggravated pimping in March 2012. Months later, Strauss-Kahn's more than 20-year marriage to prominent French television journalist and wealthy heiress Anne Sinclair crumbled. Investigating judges ordered him to stand trial in 2013, ignoring the prosecutor's office's recommendation that the charge be dropped.

In recent years, Strauss-Kahn has made several attempts to renter French public life, appearing at the Cannes Film Festival and giving a long interview about the euro crisis to a French news program. The trial will test Strauss-Kahn's bid to put a string of torrid sex scandals behind him.

One of the prostitutes questioned during the investigation described one of Strauss-Kahn's orgies.

"I was shocked. I didn't want to get involved in this carnage," Sandrine Vandenschrik told police, according to judicial documents viewed by The Associated Press. She described a scene at Paris' Murano hotel in March 2009, when she entered a room to see Strauss-Kahn on a bed being "taken care of" by seven or eight women.

Vandenschrik said she told police that if Strauss-Kahn said he didn't know the women were prostitutes "he really wants us to believe he's naive and takes us for idiots."

Dominique strauss-kahn, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, is to go on trial on charges of pimping in connection with an alleged prostitution ring at a luxury hotel in the northern French city of Lille

Magistrates in France decided on Fridayto press ahead with charging the former Socialist minister in spite of calls by the state prosecutor for the case to be dropped.

Strauss-Kahn, 64, a former French presidential candidate, has admitted attending the "libertine" parties and having sex with a number of women. However, he has always insisted he did not know that some of them were prostitutes.

The case, known as the Carlton affair after the luxury hotel where the orgies were said to have taken place, centres around allegations that businessmen and police officials in Lille operated a vice ring supplying women for sex parties.

This affair, which came to light in late 2011, is the last of a series of inquiries into Strauss-Kahn since his arrest in New York in May 2011 where he was accused of trying to rape a hotel maid.

The charges in the US were eventually dropped because of doubts over maid Nafissatou Diallo's credibility after she was found to have lied on her immigration claim, but Strauss-Kahn was later forced to pay her substantial damages reported to be in the region of $6m(£3.9m).

Two subsequent cases against the former French finance minister have also been dropped. An allegation of sexual assault against writer Tristane Banon in Paris in 2003 did not result in criminal charges because it had passed the legal time limit. In October last year, French prosecutors decided to drop an inquiry into allegations of gang rape at a hotel in Washington after one of the women involved who had made the claim retracted her evidence.

The state prosecutor had recommended that the Carlton affair charges against Strauss-Kahn be dropped on the grounds of a lack of evidence.

Magistrates decided otherwise; they put aside a charge of "aggravated pimping as part of an organised gang", but maintained the lesser charge of "aggravated pimping as part of a group". He is facing trial along with 12 other defendants.

In France pimping can cover a wide range of crimes including aiding or encouraging prostitution. A trial is expected to take place next year. If convicted, Strauss-Kahn could face up to 10 years in prison and a €1.5m (£860,000) fine.

The former IMF chief has vehemently denied all allegations against him and described them as "dangerous and malicious insinuations and extrapolations".

"It will all come out publicly before the tribunal and everyone will realise that there is nothing in this case," Henri Leclerc, one of Strauss Kahn's lawyers said on Friday.

Leclerc said the legal team was "under no illusions" about the "relentlessness shown by the investigating magistrates" and claimed Strauss-Kahn was being targeted because of his high profile.

"This decision is based on an ideological and moral analysis, but certainly not on any legal grounds. We're sending someone to court for nothing," said the lawyer.

After an earlier hearing into the Carlton affair, Leclerc told the French radio station Europe 1 that Strauss-Kahn could not have known whether the women at the parties were prostitutes.

"As you can imagine, at these kinds of parties you're not always dressed, and I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman," Leclerc said.

Strauss-Kahn had been a frontrunner as the Socialist party's candidate to become French president in last year's election before his arrest in New York. He was forced to resign from his job as IMF chief and his third wife Anne Sinclair, a wealthy heiress and former television presenter, divorced him.

At the Cannes film festival in May, Strauss-Kahn was pictured with a new girlfriend, Moroccan-born Myriam L'Aouffir, 45, who works in the internet and social media department at France Television.

Celebrity May 2011 Quotes. The world didn't actually end this month, but a few careers did . Read about those swan songs, plus see which international shockers and steamy scandals made headlines in May. 
Harold Camping
"There is no possibility that it will not happen because our information comes from the Bible."

The Christian radio broadcaster  was the key figure behind a popular doomsday prediction that did not come to pass.
President Barack Obama
"On nights like this one, we can say that justice has been done."

On May 1, the president announced the death of the world's most-wanted terrorist.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
"While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not."

The former California governor publicly admitted to having an affair and fathering a child out of wedlock . He made the admission after he and his wife announced they are separating .
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
"It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation …"

The IMF accepted the resignation of its managing director after he was arrested for investigation of sexual assault charges.

Lars von Trier
"I understand Hitler ... I sympathize with him a bit."

During a press conference at a prestigious film festival, the Danish director — who's worked with the likes of Nicole Kidman and Bjork — joked about his German heritage.
Newt Gingrich
"I'm not commenting on stuff like that. ... I frankly don't want to play the gotcha games in Washington."

The GOP presidential candidate refused to address recent reports that he has carried significant debt to a luxury store.
Jennifer Lawrence
"We don't drink blood … that's sick."

This indie actress joked about her highly anticipated new movie role to David Letterman, who assumed the plot was just another "vampire deal."
Stephen Hawking
"There is no heaven. ...That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

In an interview with a British newspaper, the famed physicist expressed his belief that the afterlife doesn't exist.
Hillary Clinton
"These are not Western concepts; these are universal human rights."

The secretary of state voiced these words of support of individuals "fighting for equality and justice" on May 17, a significant day for a community working to end discrimination.
Ed Fleming
"It's a historic time we're in all along the Mississippi River."

The commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers explains plans to flood a region of Louisiana to reduce pressure from the rising river.
Kristen Wiig
"We wanted to write a comedy, not a female comedy, just a comedy that has a lot of women in it."

The "SNL" alum discussed the new film that she both co-wrote and starred in
Sugar Ray Leonard
"I realized I would never be free unless I revealed the truth."

In his forthcoming autobiography, the hall of famer claimed an unnamed Olympic boxing coach abused him as a teen.
Katie Couric
"Thank you so much for coming on this extraordinary journey with me."

On May 19, the evening news anchor signed off for the last time, leaving the post after five years.
Don Lemon
"An African-American male is taught that he has to be masculine."

The cable news anchor discussed the difficulty of revealing his homosexuality, an announcement he made public in his new memoir.
Lady Gaga
"My parents got me Stevie Wonder 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' and the Beatles when I was younger. … Good choices, Mom and Dad."

During her MTV special, Lady Gaga recalls the music she listened to growing up.
Taylor Swift
"I was watching the coverage of the tornadoes backstage at rehearsals, and I wanted to do something for the families affected by the damage."

The influential young country star held a benefit for the residents of this hard-hit Southern town
Erik Spoelstra
"For us to have a chance to win, you cannot afford to get tired."

The Miami Heat head coach egged on one of his star players, who helped the team steal an NBA playoff win from their opponents.
Oprah Winfrey
"It is done."

After 25 years of hosting, Winfrey wrapped her daytime talk show with a star-studded finale.