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French police searched the Arab World Institute in Paris on Monday as part of an investigation into former French Culture Minister Jack Lang and his daughter Caroline over suspected financial links to late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The raid at the institute and other locations followed a preliminary investigation opened on 6 February into “laundering of aggravated tax fraud” against the Langs, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office said.
Lang, 86, resigned from the presidency of the institute earlier this month after documents released by the US Department of Justice showed his name appeared 673 times in correspondence with Epstein between 2012 and 2019.
Lang served as culture minister from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993, and is credited with launching France’s annual Fête de la Musique festival. He had led the Arab World Institute since 2013.
The investigation centres on Prytanee LLC, an offshore company founded in 2016 in the US Virgin Islands. Caroline Lang held 50% of shares in the company, which held $1.4 million in its accounts and was presented as a fund to support young artists.
Caroline Lang, a film producer, resigned as head of the Independent Production Union on 3 February, three weeks after her appointment. She described Epstein as an “acquaintance” and said she had been “incredibly naive”, but insisted she received “no remuneration, nor any benefit” from the fund.
She also appeared in a will signed by Epstein two days before his death in 2019, promising her $5 million, which she said she was unaware of and never received.
Jack Lang said he met Epstein through film director Woody Allen about 15 years ago and was “completely shocked” when he discovered the financier’s crimes. He described the accusations against him as “unfounded” and said he welcomed the investigation “with serenity and even relief”.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu summoned Lang to the Foreign Affairs Ministry before he resigned on 8 February.
Further cases come to light
The Paris public prosecutor’s office announced on Saturday it had appointed investigating magistrates to examine potential offences involving French nationals in the Epstein case.
Prosecutors said they would re-examine the case of Jean-Luc Brunel, a former modelling agency executive and close Epstein associate who was found dead in his prison cell in February 2022. The case was closed in 2023 following his death.
Brunel had been charged with rape of minors and was being investigated for sex trafficking before he died. Ten women had made accusations against him, prosecutors said.
The prosecutor’s office said three new cases had been referred for investigation involving French diplomat Fabrice Aidan, model recruiter Daniel Siad and conductor Frédéric Chaslin.
Prosecutors are examining whether Aidan provided Epstein with “diplomatic information, services or his international networks”, following a referral from the Foreign Affairs Ministry after revelations by Mediapart and Radio France.
A Swedish woman has filed a complaint accusing Siad of rape in France in the 1990s. Siad, who has close links to Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors are also examining a complaint against Chaslin for “acts of sexual harassment allegedly committed in 2016”.
Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Additional sources • AP, AFP