Strauss-Kahn throws dollars at scandal

With multi-millionaire wife Anne Sinclair at his side, the former International Monetary Fund chief clearly hopes he can throw enough money at the scandal to make it go away.

He may just be right.

"When money is no object, you can buy yourself justice. I don\'t mean by paying people off -- I mean by presenting all sorts of defenses," defense attorney Todd Henry at The Henry Law Firm in Philadelphia told AFP.

Leading this multi-layered counterattack against accusations that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape a New York hotel maid on May 14 is renowned attorney Benjamin Brafman.

Brafman has defended P Diddy and Michael Jackson and commands star prices of his own. Although hard figures are not available, experienced attorneys told AFP that typical hourly fees range from $500 to $1,500, with Brafman likely at the high end.

As Henry put it, Strauss-Kahn will have to decide "what his freedom\'s worth."

Add in Strauss-Kahn\'s other principal lawyer William Taylor, and the private investigators at Guidepost Solutions, a secretive company headed by a senior ex-federal prosecutor, and the bill really starts rocketing.

Guidepost\'s participation has not been confirmed, but according to other investigative services the New York firm is tasked with digging up dirt on the accuser, a 32-year-old west African immigrant sent to clean Strauss-Kahn\'s room at the luxury Sofitel near Times Square.

The fee for good investigators is typically only a little less than for lawyers, meaning, in theory, that sitting at a table for a quick chat with Brafman and someone from Guidepost could set the French politician and his wife back more than $2,000.

Meanwhile, Strauss-Kahn awaits trial under house arrest on a $1 million cash bail and $5 million bond in a Manhattan townhouse Sinclair reportedly rented for $50,000 a month.

The four-bedroom property with home movie theater, jet tub and roof terrace is in TriBeCa, one of New York\'s ritziest neighborhoods.

So that he can\'t skip bail, Strauss-Kahn is required to pay for his own 24-hour guards, video surveillance and GPS monitoring -- all for the hefty price of $200,000 a month, according to prosecutors.

Then there\'s the possible need for public relations back-up.

Media reports suggest that Strauss-Kahn has gone to TD International, which previously worked for him in the campaign to head the IMF.

TD International is not known as an active player in the New York media scene, but whatever firm Strauss-Kahn hired he\'d again find himself paying over the course of the crisis anything between "low six figures at the low end and a few million dollars at the high end," said Ronn Torossian, chief executive of 5W Public Relations in New York.

"A crisis PR agency is cheaper than your big attorneys but they\'re still very expensive."

Another specialist, Harvey Farr at Farr Marketing Group in Los Angeles, said a big firm could charge between $10,000 and $15,000 per month.

So is the spree worth it?

Perhaps, says New York defense lawyer Steve Zissou.

"When you have enough funding so that you could literally do everything that you might want to do, that makes all the difference in the world. It\'s all about hard work and building a theory of the defense that juries can find reasonable," he said.

The jury, though, is not for sale -- and that will always be the wild card.

"Just because you spend a million-dollar defense, that doesn\'t guarantee the outcome," he said.

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