Strauss-Kahn must pay 75,000 euros in back taxes - court

Luxembourg's administrative court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, confirming his obligation to pay 75,000 euros in back taxes from a now-bankrupt investment firm he once chaired.

The former French economy minister was targeted by the Luxembourg tax authorities following the collapse of Paris-listed Leyne Strauss-Kahn and Partners (LSK) where he served as chairman of the board between September 2013 and October 2014.

"The fact that Mr Strauss-Kahn was a director of LSK does not exonerate him from personal responsibility," the court said in a statement released on Tuesday, summarising a ruling handed down on November 2.

"A director, as a representative of a company, and who acts in lieu of it, must ensure the fulfilment of the financial obligations of the legal entity that he represents," the judge wrote.

Through his Luxembourg lawyer Andre Lutgen, DSK had argued last month that he "did not have any managerial function" within the company.

But the judge dismissed his argument and upheld his obligation to pay 74,792.40 euros in withheld taxes from 2014. The figure also includes interest.

Strauss-Kahn had hoped to turn LSK into a $2 billion investment fund, but it went bankrupt in November 2014, owing nearly 100 million euros to more than 150 creditors, according to a source close to the investigation.

Strauss-Kahn blamed the company's mismanagement on his business partner, Thierry Leyne, who committed suicide in Tel Aviv in October 2014.

In March, French prosecutors confirmed opening an investigation into LSK on charges of organised fraud, misuse of corporate assets and breach of trust, dating back to 2007.

It is the latest in a series of scandals hounding Strauss-Kahn, which have derailed the career of a man once considered a frontrunner for the French presidency.

He resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund in 2011 after being accused of attempted rape in New York, although the charges were later dropped. He faced trial last year for his alleged role in a prostitution ring in France, but was acquitted.