Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair said Friday, June 29, they would sue French celebrity magazine Closer for invading their privacy with a story claiming they had separated.

"Having taken note of the cover and content of celebrity magazine Closer, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair have decided to sue this publication for invasion of privacy," their lawyers said in a brief statement, cited by BGNES.

They neither confirmed nor denied the report. Sinclair, a 63-year-old journalist, has stood by Strauss-Kahn throughout a series of sex scandals that saw him resign from the International Monetary Fund and dashed his hopes of making a bid for the French presidency.

Strauss-Kahn's career collapsed after his arrest last year on accusations he sexually assaulted a New York hotel maid.

The charges were eventually dropped but Strauss-Kahn, 63, has since faced a series of criminal and civil actions in connection with alleged sex crimes.

The hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, has launched a civil suit against Strauss-Kahn in New York seeking unspecified damages, while he has in turn filed a countersuit for malicious prosecution and defamation.

In France, Strauss-Kahn, two businessmen and a police chief were in March charged with "aggravated pimping in an organized gang" for allegedly organising a prostitution ring for orgies in France, the United States and elsewhere.

French prosecutors have also opened a preliminary investigation into accusations he took part in a gang rape in the United States. Strauss-Kahn denies committing criminal acts in both cases.

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