Strauss-Kahn Case in Turmoil

The rape case against former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in serious doubt, as recent information has raised credibility questions about the maid making the accusations against him. On Thursday, Prosecutors asked that Strauss-Kahn’s bail be reduced and the terms of his strict house arrest be reviewed.

Although forensic tests found clear evidence of a sexual encounter between Strauss-Kahn, 62, and the woman at a New York hotel, prosecutors have come to doubt much of what she has told them about her life and her whereabouts in the hours around the alleged crime.

Prosecutors believe the woman, who emigrated from Guinea, lied on her application for asylum in the United States, with a claim that she had been raped. When first asked about the claim by prosecutors she told the story “in a believable way,” a source told NBC News, but when asked about it again, she admitted that “she lied to them … and on the application about the whole rape claim.”

They also found disturbing ties linking her to people involved in drug dealing and money laundering. Within a day of the alleged assault, she was recorded in a phone conversation with a prisoner discussing the possible benefits of pursuing charges against Strauss-Kahn. The man had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana and is one of a number of people who have made cash deposits totaling $100,000 into the woman’s bank account in the last few years.