NEW YORK — A judge on Thursday granted $1 million bail to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund who was charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid last weekend in New York.
In granting bail, New York Supreme Court Judge Michael J. Obus set stringent conditions: an additional bond of $5 million secured by Strauss-Kahn’s home or other assets, home detention including an electronic monitoring device and at least one guard present at all times and the surrendering of all travel documents.
Earlier in the day, a grand jury indicted Strauss-Kahn on the assault charges.
Obus acknowledged that there is “a serious risk” that the former IMF chief could attempt to flee and avoid the charges against him, and that if he made it out of the country, “it might be impossible to get him back.”
The security arrangement, estimated by prosecutors to cost as much as $200,000 a month, would be paid for by Strauss-Kahn, who resigned his post as IMF managing director on Wedenesday. Defense attorneys said the security company Stroz Friedberg would be responsible for the monitoring setup.
“I expect that you will be here” for court, Obus said, addressing Strauss-Kahn directly. “I do want to make it very clear: If there is the slightest problem with your compliance,” court officials would quickly alter the bail agreement.”
Obus set a formal arraignment for Strauss-Kahn on June 6 at 9:30 a.m.
Strauss-Kahn will now be able to leave Rikers Island jail, where he has been staying since a judge ordered him held without bail earlier this week.
The former IMF chief arrived in court just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday, wearing a gray suit and a blue shirt with no tie. He was clean-shaven and looked more rested than when he first appeared in court earlier this week. Strauss-Kahn smiled at his wife and daughter, who were sitting in the front row, and took his place beside William Taylor, his Washington-based attorney, and the rest of his legal team at the defendant’s table. He was surrounded by five law enforcement officers.
In arguing for Strauss-Kahn’s release, Taylor told Judge Michael J. Obus that Strauss-Kahn’s wife, TV and radio personality Anne Sinclair, had rented an apartment in Manhattan where she intended to live with him while he fights the assault charges. Taylor said Strauss-Kahn would be willing to submit to the “most restricted possible conditions”: He would be fitted with an electronic monitoring device; cameras would monitor the entrances and exits of his building; and guards with a private security firm would ensure that he did not leave the premises.
“We might as well just go to the nub of the matter,” Taylor said, adding that he thought bail was unnecessary for his client. “He is an honorable man … He has only one interest at this time, and that is to clear his name.”
Read more at The Washington Post.