Former International Monetary Fund [IMF] chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been acquitted of pimping charges over sex parties in Paris, Brussels and Washington.

The 66-year-old merely nodded his head in acknowledgement of the verdict from a French court which found him not guilty of procuring prostitutes to take part in sex parties.

The economist saw his high-flying career at the head of the IMF – and his French presidential prospects – implode when a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault in 2011.

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Not long after those criminal charges were dropped and the case settled in a civil suit, his name cropped up in a probe into a prostitution ring in northern France, which provided sex workers for orgies he attended.

He was charged with “aggravated pimping” for allegedly aiding and abetting the prostitution of seven women – a charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

However, even the prosecutor called for him to be acquitted, saying that “neither the judicial inquiry nor the hearing have established that Mr Strauss-Kahn is guilty”.