Tuesday, July 26, 2011

CELEBRITY TAX PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Accuser Said to Have Lied on Tax Return

The hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, in May of rape in a New York hotel room, allegedly misrepresented her financial situation on her tax return.

Prosecutors found a number of inconsistencies in the accuser’s story about the incident as well as her finances, according to The New York Times. They found that she had lied on her application for asylum from Guinea about a gang rape, and misrepresented her income in order to qualify for public housing. She also claimed a friend’s child as her own on her tax return as a dependent, in addition to her own daughter. The Sofitel New York chamber maid also allegedly had $100,000 deposited in her bank account from unknown sources, and she had spoken to a friend in an immigration jail saying that she would make a lot of money from Strauss-Kahn because he was wealthy. She also admitted to returning to Strauss-Kahn's room to clean after the incident occurred.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, was released from house arrest over the weekend, but prosecutors have not yet dropped the charges against him. The accuser’s lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, defended his client and said the district attorney was giving up on the case. “Our concern is that the Manhattan district attorney is too afraid to try this case,” he said.