More Scandals at the IMF

According to the Wall Street Journal, the scandals continue at the
International Monetary Fund.

The International Monetary Fund has launched an investigation into whether its chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, abused his position in connection with a sexual relationship with a subordinate, in a case that could roil a key global institution at a crucial moment in the world financial crisis.

The IMF investigation concerns Mr. Strauss-Kahn's relationship with Hungarian-raised Piroska Nagy, at the time a senior official in the IMF's Africa department. According to several individuals familiar with the matter, Mr. Strauss-Kahn in December 2007 began approaching Ms. Nagy, who is married, for an affair. The two exchanged emails about a possible intimate relationship, which these people said commenced early this year during a conference in Europe.

Shortly afterward, Ms. Nagy's husband, Mario Blejer -- a prominent Argentine-born economist who has worked at the IMF, the Central Bank of Argentina and the Bank of England -- found email evidence of the affair, they said, and the relationship apparently ended. Mr. Blejer and his wife hoped to keep the incident quiet while they worked out their problems, said several individuals with knowledge of the incident.

The investigation comes only a year after the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, resigned amid accusations of favoritism to a World Bank employee with whom he had a long-standing relationship.