Paris prosecutors have set up a special team to probe possible French links to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the office announced on Saturday.
The team will examine evidence implicating French nationals and reassess the case of former modelling executive Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of Epstein who died in a Paris prison in 2022. Prosecutors said Brunel had engaged in sexual acts with underage girls in the US, US Virgin Islands, Paris and southern France. Ten women had accused him of abuse, including forced sexual acts and alcohol-facilitated assaults.
The new unit will collaborate with the national financial crimes office and police, aiming “to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP.
New investigations
The prosecutors are examining three fresh cases involving a French diplomat, a modelling agent, and a musician, based on the latest US Department of Justice release of Epstein-related material.
A complaint has been filed by a Swedish woman against model recruiter Daniel Siad, alleging sexual acts in France in 1990, potentially constituting rape. Another complaint targets conductor Frederic Chaslin for alleged sexual harassment in 2016.
Jack Lang resigns
The release also prompted former minister Jack Lang to step down as head of the Arab World Institute (IMA). He denied wrongdoing, claiming he was unaware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction and calling the allegations “a tsunami of lies”.
The national financial prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline Lang, for “aggravated tax fraud and money laundering”.
Epstein, who died in 2019 in US custody while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking underage girls, was ruled to have committed suicide.
