A former French culture minister, Jack Lang, has stepped down as president of the Arab World Institute, France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed on Saturday, following reports about his past contact with Jeffrey Epstein and the opening of a financial probe.
Earlier on Saturday, the French Financial Prosecutor’s Office announced it had launched an investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline, over suspicions of “aggravated tax fraud laundering.”
Pressure on Lang to resign had grown since documents released by the US Department of Justice on January 30 indicated that he and Epstein exchanged messages intermittently between 2012 and 2019, the year the financier died by suicide in custody.
French outlets, including Le Monde, Le Figaro and Mediapart, reported that the preliminary investigation was opened after the US files revealed years of correspondence and financial links between the two men.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed the inquiry but declined to give further details.
Lang had been asked to report to the Foreign Ministry on Sunday. The ministry oversees the Arab World Institute, a cultural and research centre aimed at promoting understanding of the Arab world.
In a post on X earlier, Lang said 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 added.
According to a Reuters review, Lang’s name appears more than 600 times in the Epstein documents. On Monday, Caroline Lang, a long-time media executive, also stepped down as head of France’s Independent Production Union after her own ties to Epstein came to light.
Lang’s lawyer told BFM TV that he would “prove that he is not involved in any malpractice or criminal offence.”
“There has been no movement of funds … But I think it is normal for the justice to want to verify this,” lawyer Laurent Merlet said.
The release of the files has intensified scrutiny of Epstein’s international connections, which include public figures such as Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, former UK ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, and Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
