Strauss-Kahn could face 20 years in prison after former IMF chief is charged with 'complicity in pimping'

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was last night charged with ‘complicity in pimping in a vice ring’ – an offence which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Two judges in Lille spent up to ten hours questioning the 62-year-old former International Monetary Fund chief about his links with prostitutes in the city in northern France.

Women selling themselves for sex is not illegal in France, but pimping is.

The allegation is that Strauss-Kahn was knowingly using prostitutes paid for by two businessmen who were illegally using company funds to organise orgies in Europe and America.

‘Complicity in pimping in a vice ring’ covers the allegation that he knew that the prostitutes he was using were being funded indirectly by a major French company.

This would have meant that Strauss-Kahn was effectively complicit in the pimping which was being carried out by the vice ring.

The offence of ‘complicity in pimping’ is aggravated if carried out within an organised gang and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine equivalent to £2.4million. Read More