France has become another European country to be shaken by the Epstein affair as ex-minister Jack Lang resigns and is set to face a tax fraud probe over alleged financial ties to the late disgraced financier.
France's former Culture Minister Jack Lang resigned on Saturday as president of the Arab World Institute following revelations about his past financial links to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The resignation came after France's financial prosecutor opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter Caroline on suspicion of "aggravated tax fraud laundering," according to authorities.
Lang's name appears more than 600 times in files released on 30 January by the US Department of Justice, which documented exchanges between the two men spanning seven years until Epstein's death in custody in 2019.
Caroline Lang, a former longtime Warner Bros France executive, resigned last Monday as managing director of France's Independent Producer Syndicate after documents revealed her business relationship with Epstein.
The files showed Caroline Lang partnered with Epstein in 2016 in a company called Pyrtanée LLC that focused on purchasing works by emerging French artists.
She was named in Epstein's will as a beneficiary of €5 million, though she has denied receiving any funds.
The preliminary investigation was opened after US documents revealed years of correspondence and financial links between Lang and Epstein, according to French media.
Caroline Lang told investigative news site Mediapart that she and her father were introduced to Epstein by Woody Allen and his partner Soon-Yi Previn in 2012.
She described herself as "astoundingly naive" but said she had neither personally invested in nor received money from the US Virgin Islands-registered company.
Lang denies wrongdoing
Lang, 86, said on X that he welcomed the investigation "with serenity and even relief".
"The accusations levelled against me are baseless, and I will demonstrate this, beyond the sound and fury of the media and digital courts," he said.
In his Arab World Institute resignation letter, Lang said he had decided to step down to protect the institution.
Lang had been summoned to meet the French Foreign Ministry, which oversees the Arab World Institute, on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot "has asked that the board of directors of the Arab World Institute be convened within seven days to appoint an interim president", ministry sources said.
Lang served as France's culture minister from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993 under President François Mitterrand. He has headed the Arab World Institute since 2013.
Scrutiny across Europe
The Epstein files have triggered significant scrutiny in several European countries, following the latest release of some 3 million documents by the US Department of Justice.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is facing a significant crisis at home over the files' revelations, apologised to Epstein's victims for appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US despite the diplomat's close ties to the late sex offender.
In Slovakia, Miroslav Lajčak, notable European diplomat and now-former advisor to Prime Minister Robert Fico, resigned after emails surfaced in which he commented on women's appearance in several European countries together with Epstein.
Lajčak said he "felt like a fool" over his comments and his involvement with the disgraced financier.
In Norway, Crown Princess Mette-Marit said last Friday that she "deeply regretted" her friendship with Epstein, while Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have launched wide-ranging official investigations into the documents.