Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the international Monetary Fund who fell from grace last year over accusations that he tried to force a hotel maid in New York to perform a sex act, will pay her $6 million to settle a civil suit, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.
Bloomberg News reported Friday that Strauss-Kahn’s French attorneys disputed that account, saying that he “vigorously denies the fantastical and erroneous information in Le Monde.”
Le Monde also reported that Strauss-Kahn will have to borrow half of the money from his wife, who edits the French edition of the Huffington Post. The two are separated.
Strauss-Kahn was arrested in May 2011, but the Manhattan District Attorney later dropped the criminal charges, saying that the purported victim Nafissatou Diallo had lied about the events that led to the arrest.
Diallo filed her lawsuit in August 2011, while the charges were still pending.
Le Monde cited unnamed sources, reportedly close to Strauss-Kahn, who said he and Diallo will meet in New York on Dec. 7 to sign a settlement agreement in a judge’s chambers.
The New York Times seemed to confirm this account, reporting that the two had “quietly reached an agreement” to settle the suit. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers told The Times, however, that the report was “completely false,” and that the $6 million number cited by Le Monde “is off by orders of magnitude.”