Paris: France’s former Culture Minister Jack Lang has resigned as head of a Paris cultural centre amid a tax investigation into alleged past financial links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lang was summoned to appear at the French Foreign Ministry, which oversees the Arab World Institute, on Sunday but submitted his resignation instead. The Foreign Ministry confirmed his resignation on Saturday evening.
Lang is the highest-profile figure in France affected by the release of the Epstein files on January 30 by the U.S. Department of Justice. He served as culture minister under Socialist President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s.
The financial prosecutors’ office has opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline, over alleged “aggravated tax fraud laundering.” French investigative news website Mediapart reported last week on the alleged financial and business ties between the Lang family and Epstein through an offshore company based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Jack Lang’s name appeared more than 600 times in the released Epstein files, showing intermittent correspondence between 2012 and 2019. His daughter was also mentioned in the files.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he had “taken note” of Lang’s resignation and has begun the process of finding a successor. Lang had headed the Arab World Institute since 2013.
With PTI inputs