IMF chief accused of raping NY hotel maid

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been charged with attempting to rape a New York hotel maid, in a scandal that upends his plans to run for president of France and throws leadership of the global lender into turmoil at the height of the European debt crisis.

The three criminal charges filed yesterday, hours after the IMF boss was taken off a plane, shocked policymakers worldwide and left wide open next April’s French presidential election. Opinion polls had shown Strauss-Kahn the front runner.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, spent the night in a New York City police cell in Harlem and was to be brought before a judge later yesterday. His lawyer Benjamin Brafman said he will plead not guilty.