A New York court decided to keep in jail International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he was arrested Saturday on sex assault chargers.

A New York judge denied Dominique Strauss-Kahn bail on Monday and ordered the IMF chief detained as the IMF head is accused of trying to rape a Manhattan hotel chambermaid, international media reported.

Judge Melissa Jackson said he should be remain behind bars because he was "a flight risk". Prosecutors added that Strauss-Kahn has engaged in similar conduct "at least once" before.

The judge rejected the offer of IMF chief's defense lawyers of USD 1 M in bail cash, and scheduled the next hearing for May 20, 2011.

The defense stated that their client did not flee the hotel after the alleged assault but was rushing to a lunch appointment with a witness who will testify to that affect. To the contrary, US presecutors have alleged the French politician had no incentive to stay in the US to face trial and has plenty of resources to flee.

Strauss-Kahn was escorted off an Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday just minutes before it was due to leave, and only a few hours after the alleged sexual assault at a luxury Manhattan hotel.

The IMF chief was a 'citizen of France, a country that does not extradite its nationals to the United States. If he went to France we would have no legal mechanisms to guarantee his return', the prosecutor said. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is expected to plead not guilty to charges that he attempted to rape a chambermaid in his luxury Manhattan hotel room.

The arrest shocked France, where Strauss-Kahn was considered a strong potential presidential candidate, but the immediate effect was on the rest of Europe, where he was considered a key player in helping the continent work its way through the debt crisis involving the so-called peripheral countries, such as Greece, Portugal and Spain. As head of the IMF, Strauss-Kahn was scheduled to be in Brussels to attend a meeting of European finance ministers.

The maid was taken by police to a hospital and was treated for minor injuries.

In a prepared statement, Strauss-Kahn's wife, Anne Sinclair, said, as cited by Huffington Post: "I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband," said Sinclair, a New York-born journalist. "I have no doubt his innocence will be established."

In 2008, Strauss-Kahn was investigated over whether he had had an improper relationship with an employee. The IMF board found his actions "reflected a serious error of judgment" yet decided the relationship was consensual.

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