Ex IMF boss released from jail

21 May BBC

The former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been released from a New York City jail after posting $1m (£618,000) cash bail.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who denies charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid, is to be kept in home detention at a temporary location in Manhattan.

He had earlier agreed to be confined to a luxury flat but residents there refused to accept him, reports said. He is to be kept under 24-hour guard and will wear a monitoring bracelet. He was released into the custody of a security firm with ties to prosecutors, Reuters news agency reported.Mr Strauss-Kahn is charged with seven counts including four felony charges - two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse - plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.

His accuser is a 32-year-old widow originally from Guinea in west Africa who reportedly told authorities Mr Strauss-Kahn accosted her after she entered his hotel room to clean it.Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, denies the allegations and on 6 June is set to enter a formal plea.

He spent four nights at the notorious Rikers Island jail in New York City since his arrest on Saturday over the alleged incident at the Sofitel hotel. His wife, Anne Sinclair was said to have rented an apartment at the Bristol Plaza apartment building in New York, where her husband was to be confined under bail conditions set on Thursday. New York media reported on Friday that Mr Kahn's release was delayed

because residents of the building had complained about his plans to move there. While Mr Strauss-Kahn had posted his bail, lawyers for the former IMF head said there were still other bail issues to be resolved, Reuters reported. Mr Strauss-Kahn was denied bail at a hearing on Monday, but on Thursday he went before a different judge.