NEW YORK — A businessman and former chairman of a major Egyptian bank faces charges of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury Manhattan hotel about two weeks after the arrest of a former International Monetary Fund chief on similar allegations.
Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, 74, was arrested Monday and is accused of sexually assaulting the maid at The Pierre hotel, police said.
The maid was called to Omar’s room Sunday evening to drop off tissues, police said. Once she was in the room, police said, Omar wouldn’t let her leave and touched her inappropriately.
The maid broke free and told her superiors she had been assaulted, but they said it was best to wait until morning to report it to the security director, a law enforcement official said Tuesday. The director called police Monday morning.
Officers canvassed the hotel room and the area around the hotel but didn’t locate Omar. They returned about two hours later and found him in the lobby of The Pierre, where they arrested him about 11 a.m., the official said, speaking anonymously because the investigation was ongoing.
Omar was arrested on charges of sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching and harassment.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said detectives found the complainant to be credible.
A spokeswoman for the Egyptian Consulate in New York City did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Omar is the board chairman of El-Mex Salines Co., a state-run salt-production company, the company’s website says.
His arrest came 16 days after former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused of sexually assaulting a maid at the Sofitel hotel, near Times Square. Strauss-Kahn has denied the allegations and awaits trial on attempted-rape charges under house arrest.
