Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair leave their temporary Manhattan residence in New York July 2, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW YORK - Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has returned to his rented New York City townhouse after leaving for a few hours.

He stepped from a vehicle outside the Manhattan home Saturday afternoon and went quickly inside.

Strauss-Kahn has been accused by a hotel maid of trying to rape her in May. Prosecutors told a judge on Friday they had discovered serious problems with the maid's credibility. The judge subsequently lifted Strauss-Kahn's house arrest, allowing him to travel in the US but not abroad.

Strauss-Kahn had left the house in the Tribeca neighborhood with his wife for about three hours Saturday. With reporters watching, the couple had gotten into a car and sped off. It's unknown where they went.