France’s ex-Culture Minister Jack Lang resigns amid Epstein links probe

Former French culture minister Jack Lang has resigned as head of the Arab World Institute after alleged financial links to Jeffrey Epstein triggered a tax investigation. Prosecutors are also examining the role of Lang’s daughter.

Paris: France’s former Culture Minister Jack Lang has resigned as head of a Paris cultural centre over alleged past financial links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that prompted a tax investigation.

Lang was summoned to appear at the French Foreign Ministry, which oversees the Arab World Institute, on Sunday, but he submitted his resignation.

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He is the highest-profile figure in France impacted by the release of Epstein files on Jan 30 by the US Department of Justice, known for his role as a Culture Minister under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed his resignation on Saturday evening.

The financial prosecutors’ office said it had opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline, over alleged “aggravated tax fraud laundering.”

French investigative news website Mediapart reported last week on alleged financial and business ties between the Lang family and Jeffrey Epstein through an offshore company based in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.

Jack Lang’s name was mentioned more than 600 times in the Epstein files, showing intermittent correspondence between 2012 and 2019. His daughter was also in the released files.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has “taken note” of Lang’s resignation and has begun the process to look for his successor, the foreign ministry said.

Lang headed the Arab World Institute since 2013.