Former culture minister Jack Lang resigns from Arab World Institute in Paris and is also subject of tax investigation
Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the launch of a financial investigation by French prosecutors.
Lang, 86, resigned on Saturday night before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein.
Earlier on Saturday, the rench financial prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into Jack Lang and his daughter, the film producer Caroline Lang, on suspicion of “aggravated tax fraud laundering” after they were referenced in the Epstein files. Both denied any wrongdoing.
Lang’s departure is the latest example of the fallout in Europe from files released on 30 January by the US Department of Justice, many of which showed Epstein’s social, networking and financial links. Lang is the most high-profile public figure in France caught up in the latest release of private messages from the convicted sex offender.
