Paris Police search institute linked to Jeffrey Epstein probe

Paris: French police searched the Arab World Institute in Paris on Monday as part of an investigation into its former head, ex-culture minister Jack Lang, and his links to late convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prosecutors said.

France's National Financial Prosecutor (PNF) said in a statement that the institute was among several locations searched.

Prosecutors earlier this month opened a preliminary investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline Lang, on suspicion of tax fraud following the release of documents related to Epstein in the United States.


Lang, who served as culture minister under former Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, resigned this month from the Arab World Institute, which he had led since 2013.

He has said he was unaware of Epstein's crimes despite corresponding with him between 2012 and 2019 - years after the financier's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019.