Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is returning to France from the United States after sexual assault charges made against him in New York were dropped.
But he is unlikely to be welcomed home with open arms by the Socialist Party that had been set to anoint him as their presidential candidate.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and one time front runner for the French presidency was photographed at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, where he was believed to be about to begin his journey home.
US authorities handed back his passport last week.
His return to Paris was first reported by French publication Le Figaro and LCI television, but they said he was expected to return on Sunday. The newspaper said the information came from journalists who had accessed Air France's electronic reservation system.
Strauss-Kahn was forced to quit his post as head of the IMF after Nafissatou Diallo, a maid at a New York hotel, alleged he had sexually assaulted her. But the case collapsed when the court decided she was not an credible witness.
Before the allegations arose the 62-year-old Frenchman had been expected to return to France to seek the nomination to be the Socialist presidential candidate in this years election.
There was a some degree of sympathy for Strauss-Kahn in France following his arrest, particularly over the American tradition of parading the accused before the cameras in a so-called 'perp walk'.
But he will not have an easy time when he lands in Paris. Martine Aubry, a Socialist presidential candidate, said Strauss-Khan “must explain himself” when he returns.
“The French people do not expect me to tell them what went on in that hotel room. I have no idea," she said. “He’ll be here soon and we’ll be asking him some questions.”
And Michel Rocard, a former socialist prime minister said of Strauss-Khan: "This man quite obviously has a mental illness that makes it difficult for him to control his urges".
Strauss-Khan is also returning to further allegations of sexual assault at home. Writer Tristane Banon, 32, has alleged he tried to rape her in a Paris flat eight years ago.
His arrest in Manhatten was seen as a boost for the re-election campaign of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But all is not well for the incumbent.
Sarkozy has had to deny claims in a new book that he accepted undeclared campaign donations from the heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics fortune, Liliane Bettencourt, in order to finance his first run for the presidency.
The book published on Thursday, 'Sarko Killed Me', contains claims by Bettencourt's accountant that she was tasked with giving a large donation to Sarkozy's campaign in 2007. French law limits political donations to €7,500 (£6,650) per person per year.
Sarkozy's office said: "These allegations are scandalous, unfounded and untruthful."