NEW YORK (AFP) – With the sex assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn hanging by a thread, damning new revelations emerged Saturday about his accuser, whose mounting credibility problems prompted the ex-IMF chief's release from house arrest.
Buoyed by a New York judge's order a day earlier to end all restrictions on him except foreign travel, Strauss-Kahn was enjoying his first full day of freedom -- as prosecutors scrambled to salvage some sort of case against the once high-flying French politician.
While the charges against Strauss-Kahn stand, the case has nearly imploded after prosecutors acknowledged their investigations of the accuser, a Guinea-born hotel maid, found she lied to a grand jury about the case.
In a letter to defense lawyers, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the woman had provided a "false" narrative of her life -- including a gang rape which she later admitted never occurred -- as part of her application process for US asylum.
Among other details gleaned about the maid were her possible links to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering, a law enforcement official told The New York Times.
Within a day of the alleged rape attempt, the maid was recorded speaking on the phone with a boyfriend jailed for possessing 400 pounds (180 kilograms) of marijuana and discussing the benefits of pursuing charges, according to the newspaper.
When the conversation was translated from Fulani, the maid's native language, investigators became concerned.
"She says words to the effect of, 'Don't worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I'm doing,'" the Times quotes one of the officials as saying.
The paper said the man was one of several individuals who made multiple cash deposits totaling around $100,000 into the woman's bank account over the last two years.
The sensational twist raised hopes among Stauss-Kahn's ardent supporters that the case will collapse and the Socialist party favorite will return to frontline politics, possibly even as a candidate to challenge French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012 elections.
In a hint of just how possible a potential Strauss Kahn bid might be, fellow socialist Segolene Royal, a candidate in the presidential vote, said she had no problem delaying the process to make room for him.
But the current deadline for declaring in the Socialist Party primary is July 13 -- five days before Strauss-Kahn's next scheduled court appearance in New York.
And authorities will keep his passport pending possible trial, meaning he cannot travel outside of the United States, though his $1 million bail and $5 million bond will now be returned.
The Socialist Party heavyweight quickly took advantage of his newfound freedom after leaving a packed Manhattan courtroom Friday, celebrating over dinner with his wife and another couple at a posh Italian restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
The 62-year-old dined on pasta pappardelle with truffles, and the tab ran to around $600, according to the restaurant owner.
It was a stunning reversal of fortune for a man who spent days locked up in New York's tough Rikers Island jail in May.
Despite the maid's shattered credibility, Vance vowed to continue the investigations until prosecutors had uncovered all the facts.
"Today's proceedings did not dismiss the indictment or any of the charges against the defendant," he stressed.
Judge Michael Obus concurred, telling the court: "The case is not over.... In the meantime, there will be no rush to judgment."
Legal analysts, however, said the case was likely dead in the water and would be dismissed.
According to the accuser's initial grand jury testimony, she fled Strauss-Kahn's luxury hotel suite immediately after the May 14 attack and waited in the hallway before informing a supervisor.
But, prosecutors revealed, the 32-year-old subsequently changed her story, admitting she actually cleaned another room and even returned to start cleaning Strauss-Kahn's suite before alerting her bosses.
Strauss-Kahn's attorneys William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman said the disclosures "only further confirm that he will be fully exonerated."
Outside the courtroom, the maid's lawyer Kenneth Thompson admitted his client had made "some mistakes," but insisted forensic evidence would prove Strauss-Kahn was guilty of a brutal sexual assault.
Neighbors in the accuser's Bronx neighborhood, including many fellow Guineans, were philosophical.
"Maybe she lied. It just ends up hurting all Guineans if people have less then good intentions," said Tidiane Ba, speaking in French. "But we have to let the courts do their job."
