Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Strauss-Kahn Lover Felt Coerced Into Having Affair

Strauss-Kahn's 2008 fling with subordinate Piroska Nagy under fresh scrutiny

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted May 17, 2011 2:22 AM CDT

(Newser) – Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest on sexual assault charges has put an old affair under new scrutiny. The IMF chief had a fling at the height of the financial crisis with Piroska Nagy, a married, Hungarian-born economist. The IMF's board concluded that the 2008 affair was consensual and cleared its director of wrongdoing, but a friend of Nagy's now tells the New York Times that Nagy felt coerced into the affair because of Strauss-Kahn's power.

Strauss-Kahn began pestering Nagy soon after he became chief of the IMF in 2007, according to the friend, who says Nagy believes the IMF board's investigation ignored her allegations of abuse of power. "I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t,” Nagy wrote in a letter to investigators, describing Strauss-Kahn as “a man with a problem that may make him ill-equipped to lead an institution where women work under his command."

IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn was “a man with a problem that may make him ill-equipped to lead an institution where women work under his command," Nagy wrote. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

CLICK BELOW TO VOTE

14%

60%

12%

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Case Against Strauss-Kahn Collapsing

Prosecution finds major holes in accuser's credibility

(NEWSER) - The case against Dominique Strauss-Khan has fallen apart so dramatically that he could be freed from house arrest as soon as Friday, well-placed law enforcement officials tell the New York Times . The prosecution's investigators have found major issues with the credibility of the maid who accused the former IMF chief of assaulting her in his hotel suite in May, the sources say. Prosecutors are speaking to Strauss-Kahn's lawyers about dismissing the felony charges against him. More»

Strauss-Kahn Leans Toward Risky 'Consent' Defense

His legal team says evidence will not prove a forcible encounter

(AP) - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has shed little public light on his account of what happened between him and the hotel housekeeper who accused him of sexually attacking her , but his legal team appears intent on making the case that it was not a forcible encounter. That's a common but dicey strategy that can pose challenges for defense lawyers and prosecutors alike, legal experts say. More»

Behind Strauss-Kahn, a Formidable Wife

Anne Sinclair is all but French royalty

(NEWSER) - She's a former journalistic powerhouse, the dazzling daughter of a renowned and moneyed family, and the driving force behind her husband's political career who is now mired in his staggering downfall: And she's not Maria Shriver. Anne Sinclair was all but French royalty when she married Dominque Strauss-Kahn in 1991, a "combination of Charlie Rose and Barbara Walters" who interviewed everyone from Gorbachev to Madonna and named her son for close pal Elie Wiesel. The New York Times profiles the formidable woman now embedded in Strauss-Kahn's defense. More»

Strauss-Kahn Resigns

Jailed IMF chief steps down with immediate effect

(NEWSER) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn has stepped down as director of the International Monetary Fund. Strauss-Kahn, who is being held in New York's Rikers Island prison on sexual assault charges, denied the charges against him but said he wanted to protect his family and the IMF, reports the New York Times . The Frenchman, once seen as the likeliest candidate to oust President Nicolas Sarkozy, has a bail hearing Thursday, More»

Lawyer: Strauss-Kahn Maid Devastated, Has No Agenda

Victim 'had no idea who IMF chief was when she reported attack'

(NEWSER) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged attack on a hotel maid has had a "cataclysmic effect" on the 32-year-old immigrant's life, her lawyer tells the AP , and she's now in hiding from the media. And signs point to a life that hadn't been easy before she crossed paths with Strauss-Kahn: The woman was raising a 15-year-old daughter alone after the girl's father died; mother and daughter had received political asylum from the United States when they emigrated from Guinea under "very difficult circumstances" in 2004. Further, the New York Post is reporting exclusively that the woman lives in a building that is reserved for adults with HIV/AIDS. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Strauss-Kahn Lover Felt Coerced Into Having Affair

Strauss-Kahn's 2008 fling with subordinate Piroska Nagy under fresh scrutiny

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

IMF • affair • Dominique Strauss Kahn • sexual assault • Piroska Nagy

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Case Against Strauss-Kahn Collapsing

Prosecution finds major holes in accuser's credibility

Strauss-Kahn Leans Toward Risky 'Consent' Defense

His legal team says evidence will not prove a forcible encounter

Behind Strauss-Kahn, a Formidable Wife

Anne Sinclair is all but French royalty

Strauss-Kahn Resigns

Jailed IMF chief steps down with immediate effect

Lawyer: Strauss-Kahn Maid Devastated, Has No Agenda

Victim 'had no idea who IMF chief was when she reported attack'

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?