MOSCOW, January 21 - RAPSI. Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has paid a settlement of $1.5 million to the New York hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault, states France Presse, citing French media.

According to the news agency, Strauss-Kahn, 63, and Nafissatou Diallo, 33, settled their dispute in a confidential deal in December 2012. At the time, the media speculated the payment would be around $5 million. Diallo will pay her lawyers about 30% of the sum she has received, France Presse reports.

This is not Diallos first payment in this scandal. The maid received a payout from The New York Post, which she had sued for reporting that she worked as a prostitute.

The sex scandal began 18 months ago, when Strauss-Kahn was detained in New York on May 14, 2011, after Diallo accused him of sexual assault. The IMF official was later put under house arrest and retired as the IMF Managing Director on May 19, 2011. He also decided not to run for French president, despite being one of the frontrunners.