Lille ( France)

French police detained former IMF chief Dominique Strauss- Kahn for questioning on Tuesday over allegations he took part in orgies in Paris and Washington paid for by a pair of businessmen, AFP reports.

The 62- year- old former Socialist minister, who until last year was seen as the frontrunner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France, had been due to face questioning as a witness, but prosecutors said he was now a suspect.

He arrived at a police station in the northern city of Lille just before his 13.30 IST appointment for what could be up to 48 hours of questioning about his role in the latest sex scandal to beset his ruined career.

Shortly after his arrival, prosecutors said he would instead be questioned on suspicion of " pimping and misuse of company funds" and was thus not free to leave and could face charges and see his questioning stretch to 96 hours.

Afterwards, if a judge agrees, he could be remanded in custody.

Investigating magistrates want to know whether he was aware that the women who entertained him at parties in restaurants, hotels and swingers'clubs in Paris, Washington and several European capitals were paid prostitutes.

They will also seek to determine whether Strauss- Kahn knew that the escorts were paid for by funds fraudulently obtained by his hosts from a French public works company for which one of them worked as a senior executive.

Paying a prostitute is not in itself illegal in France, but profiting from vice or embezzling company funds to pay for sex can lead to charges.

The former director of the International Monetary Fund admits that he has led an adventurous sexual life, but denies that he was implicated in pimping or corruption and has indicted he will deny any criminal wrongdoing.