Epstein affair: several searches targeting Jack Lang took place in Paris, including at the Arab World Institute

A search was carried out this Monday at the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris, as part of the investigation opened for laundering of aggravated tax fraud targeting Jack and Caroline Lang, according to information from Le Figaro confirmed by the Arab World Institute and the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF).

“Search operations targeting various locations, including the Arab World Institute, are currently underway. They are part of a preliminary investigation opened by the national financial prosecutor’s office on February 6, into the charge of laundering aggravated tax fraud targeting Jack Lang and Caroline Lang,” wrote the PNF in its press release at the end of the morning.

Jack Lang’s Parisian home was also searched, a source close to the matter told AFP.

“I have nothing to hide”

These searches take place while Jack Lang is bidding farewell to the IMA staff during a small ceremony. “I am delighted that financial justice is getting underway,” said Jack Lang in his speech, without explicitly referring to the searches, noted an AFP journalist present. “I have nothing to hide,” he repeated this Monday after the searches.

The former Minister of Culture was forced to resign from the presidency of the IMA which he had held since 2013 after the revelations of an offshore company founded by Caroline Lang in 2016 with Jeffrey Epstein. Among the messages exchanged by the American financier, the name of Jack Lang appears 673 times and reveals common economic interests.

The PNF opened a preliminary investigation for “aggravated tax fraud laundering” on February 6. This investigation concerns “the facts revealed by Mediapart relating to Caroline and Jack Lang” and their supposed financial links with Jeffrey Epstein, specified the PNF. According to an investigation published on February 2 by the investigative media, Caroline Lang founded in 2016 with American sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein an offshore company domiciled in the American Virgin Islands.

“The investigation was opened in particular following the recent publication by the American Department of Justice of nearly 3 million documents and archives relating to the legal proceedings and investigations targeting Jeffrey Epstein, known as the “Epstein files”, as well as the journalistic revelations which followed in France. The investigations are entrusted to the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF),” wrote the PNF this Monday in its press release.

In an interview with the Tribune Sunday this weekend, the former Minister of National Education and Culture claimed to be “white as snow” and denounced “a tsunami of lies”. “Jeffrey Epstein proposed creating a fund to buy the works of young artists. I thought it was a good idea. As for the rest, I didn’t take care of it,” said Jack Lang, whose name appeared in the company’s statutes.