PARIS, Feb 8: France’s former culture minister Jack Lang has resigned as head of the Paris-based Arab World Institute after a tax investigation emerged over alleged financial ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lang submitted his resignation following a summons from the French Foreign Ministry, which confirmed his departure on Saturday.
Lang is the most prominent French figure affected by the January 30 release of Epstein-related documents by the US Department of Justice. A key political figure, he served as culture minister under Socialist President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s and had led the Arab World Institute since 2013.
France’s financial prosecutors have launched an inquiry into Lang and his daughter, Caroline, for suspected “aggravated tax fraud laundering.” Investigative outlet Mediapart reported that the Lang family allegedly had financial links to Epstein through an offshore company in the US Virgin Islands.
The Epstein files mention Lang over 600 times, showing intermittent correspondence between 2012 and 2019, with his daughter also named. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has begun the process to appoint Lang’s successor. (AP)
