Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was taken off an Air France flight at JFK airport, having been accused of a sex attack on a hotel maid. [file photo, Xinhua/AFP]

New York prosecutors on Sunday charged IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York City, police said.

The lawyer representing the 62-year-old said earlier that the IMF chief will plead not guilty.

Strauss-Kahn was taken off an Air France flight by three officers from the Port Authority of New York and turned over to Manhattan detectives, according to the report of The New York Times

Port Authority officers were acting on information from the New York Police Department, whose detectives had been investigating a brutal alleged attack on a woman employee at the Sofitel New York on West 44th Street in the heart of the city's theatre district.

The 32-year-old woman told police that she entered Strauss-Kahn's room at about 1pm on Saturday and he emerged from the bedroom naked, threw her down and tried to sexually assault her, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. She broke free and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened who called the police.

When New York City police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his mobile phone and other personal items. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne added.

Strauss-Khan was being questioned on Saturday night by the NYPD special victims office. No charges have yet been filed.

Strauss-Kahn is the leader of France's Socialist Party. He is also the main rival to President Nicholas Sarkozy in the 2012 elections.

He is married to New York-born journalist Anne Sinclair. He took over the IMF in November 2007.