Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was plunged back into the sex scandals that have ruined his career yesterday when he was held for questioning by police investigating an alleged prostitution ring based in the French city of Lille.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who less than a year ago was the leading contender for France’s forthcoming presidential election, was under interrogation over his participation in a number of sex parties in Paris and Washington allegedly organised by senior police and business figures from Lille.
His name was first linked to the case soon after he returned to France last year following his arrest in New York on charges of sexually assaulting a chambermaid in a Manhattan hotel, which forced his resignation from the IMF, although the charges were dropped.