Nafissatou Diallo, a 32-year old hotel maid, claims that the former IMF boss attacked her in his suite at the Sofitel in New York on May 14th.

The call, reported by newspaper Le Parisien on Thursday, was made by US attorneys Kenneth Thompson and Douglas Wigdor. 

The two lawyers are building a portrait of what they call “the real personality of Mr Strauss-Kahn” and are already working with a private investigator in France.

The newspaper reported them as saying “if any stewardesses believe they have been bothered, disturbed or threatened by inappropriate behaviour, they should call us.”

They claim to have already received two reports from airline staff. The first was an incident at Los Angeles airport when the newspaper claims a stewardess had to tell Strauss-Kahn to “behave himself”. 

More recently, an anonymous letter was apparently sent from Canada stating that Air France has had “a few hundred complaints” about “the man suspected of having abused your client.” The newspaper reports that the letter went on to claim that Air France took a decision to place only male employees in the first-class cabin when Mr Strauss-Kahn was travelling.

Air France has refused to comment on the reports.