Saturday, Jun 25, 2011


 
   By Chad Bray 
   Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

An Egyptian businessman pleaded guilty Friday to a criminal misdemeanor in the assault of a maid at a Manhattan hotel late last month.

At a court hearing, Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, the 74-year-old chairman of an Egyptian salt-production company and the former Bank of Alexandria (BALX.CI) chairman, admitted to kissing the maid on the lips and the neck and groping her breast.

"All of that conduct, you are aware was without the room attendant's consent?" Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said.

"Yes," Omar said.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal website, WSJ.com.)

The misdemeanor charge is a less-serious one than the felony charge of sexual abuse in the first degree Omar faced in a complaint by Manhattan prosecutors last month. As part of the plea agreement, Omar was sentenced to five days of community service--which he has already completed--and agreed to leave the country.

Lori Cohen, Omar's lawyer, said he wanted to return home to Egypt and his wife, who recently underwent surgery. "This was the most expeditious way for him to return home," Cohen said.

Cohen added that the incident was the result of a miscommunication between the maid and Omar, who she said doesn't speak English very well. "I think he thought something was happening that wasn't," Cohen said.

A lawyer for the maid didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment Friday. Prosecutors said she was aware of the plea agreement.

Omar's plea came on the same day the maid sued him in a federal lawsuit, seeking $3 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.

A 44-year old maid at The Pierre hotel alleged that Omar groped and kissed her and rubbed his groin against her leg, according to her lawsuit and the criminal complaint filed by Manhattan prosecutors. She had been sent to his room after he allegedly requested a box of tissues from room service May 29.

She told authorities that when she arrived, Omar locked the door and began sexually assaulting her. Authorities said the maid alleged that Omar let her go only after she agreed to give him her telephone number. The maid said she provided an incorrect number.

Her supervisor was suspended by the hotel after waiting a day to report the incident. Omar was arrested May 30.

Omar's arrest came about two weeks after former International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a maid at the Sofitel New York hotel last month. Strauss-Kahn has denied wrongdoing.

-By Chad Bray, The Wall Street Journal; 212-227-2017; chad.bray@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

25-06-11 0742GMT