New York police say the sexual assault case against the former head of the International Monetary Fund is falling apart. They say the hotel maid who says he assaulted her has lied repeatedly, and she's personally connected with money launderers and drug dealers.

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Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is facing charges of sex abuse and attempted rape that could send him to prison for 25 years.

Strauss-Kahn admits he had sex with the hotel maid in his hotel room, but he insists it was consensual. With no other witnesses to the incident, she's the only one who can tell a jury it was rape and she tried to resist. It's her word against his.

That will expose her to cross examination, and a prosecution source says she's been caught in so many lies that defense attorneys will have no trouble destroying her credibility.

Among other things, it's been learned that within one day of the incident, the maid telephoned a friend and talked about how she could cash in on it.  The friend was in jail at the time, so the call was recorded.

Despite her claims to be a devout Muslim, she's been photographed partying and drinking.  Investigators have also learned that several people around the country have made a number of large cash deposits in her bank account over the past two years.

Sources say she also lied about a number of things on her application for asylum 10 years ago — so it's possible she could be deported.

The New York Times reports the woman's credibility is so shaky that prosecutors and defense attorneys are talking about dismissing all the charges against Strauss-Kahn.

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