Former IMF head moves to luxury home

NEW YORK, May 26 (UPI) -- Former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will serve house arrest at a $14 million New York townhouse pending his trial for sexual assault.

The lavish 6,800-square-foot digs at 153 Franklin Street, coveted by Hollywood stars and music artists visiting New York, are a recently renovated three-story, four-bedroom townhouse in the trendy Tribeca neighborhood. The townhouse has a fitness center, steam bath spa, custom theater, limestone jet tubs, rainfall steam shower and a rooftop deck, The New York Times reports.

His wife is paying the rent of $42,400 a month, The Daily Telegraph said.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, who is accused of sexually assaulting a 32-year-old Muslim maid at the Sofitel New York Hotel, is under house arrest and electronic monitoring after posting $1 million cash bail and a $5 million bond. He had been living at a Manhattan apartment after leaving the Rikers Island prison.

Two senior prosecutors have been assigned to the high-profile case by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Strauss-Kahn is under 24-hour armed surveillance and can leave home only under limited circumstances, the Times said.

"Obviously it's going to be a media circus around here for a while," a neighbor told the newspaper.