Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar, the 74-year-old Egyptian banker accused of groping a maid at the Pierre Hotel, posted $25,000 bail yesterday. But as Omar was wrapping up his week at Riker's the Manhattan DA's office still had yet to indict him, instead choosing to further investigate the situation.
Omar's situation is turing out to be quite different from that of the ex-IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is currently under house arrest for sexually assaulting a different maid in another Manhattan hotel. One of Omar's attorneys explained why her client is now free to travel around the U.S. this way: “There is not...this is not a rape case. This is not a violent crime. He is a family man. He’s 73 years old. He has a wife, and child, and son, who I’ve been in contact with."
"The DA's Office is doing the right thing by proceeding carefully and making sure they have all the evidence," she said. And if the case does go before a Grand Jury, she says her client will testify.
Reportedly last Sunday Omar requested a box of tissues around 6 p.m. from his hotel. When the hotel maid brought them, the Post reported earlier this week, he "quickly locked the door behind her, according to police. Then, the elderly banker allegedly grabbed her breasts and began kissing her on the lips and neck." Other versions of the story involve the married father of four "grinding his crotch against the 44-year-old maid."
