Paris prosecutors launched two new investigations.
Paris—Paris prosecutors launched two new investigations into possible sex abuse crimes and related financial wrongdoing on Wednesday. Jeffrey Epstein, following the release of millions of files on the millionaire financier and convicted sex offender, urged additional potential victims to come forward.
Paris prosecutor Laurence Becuau said efforts were being made to use it in the investigation. The US administration’s released files, media reports, and newly filed complaints all contribute to the investigation.
“All that data … some will highlight others to be able to get a well-informed, very comprehensive, panoramic view,” Becu said on France Info news broadcaster.
One investigation will focus on sexual exploitation crimes, the other on financial irregularities, each involving a special magistrate, he said.
The move comes after the US Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of documents as well as thousands of videos and photos related to Epstein, who died behind bars in 2019.
“These publications will inevitably reactivate the trauma of some victims,” he said. “We are confident that some (victims) may not necessarily be known to us, and perhaps these publications will encourage them to come forward.”
He called on victims who may have never spoken out before to file formal complaints or create witness accounts to spur French and foreign investigations.
Bekuu also said that some of the material from the old investigation should be revisited in light of new revelations.
She made reference to the ongoing investigation. As a French modelling agent, Jean-Luc Brunel was accused of rape and sex trafficking minors.
The investigation was closed in 2022 after he was found dead in a prison cell in Paris. Brunel, a frequent partner of Epstein, was considered the centrepiece of a French investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of women and girls by Epstein and his group.
Epstein travelled frequently to France and had apartments in Paris.
In France, the highest-profile individual to be affected by the recent release of the Epstein files is Jacques Lang, the 86-year-old former culture minister. Stepped down earlier this month as head of the Arab World Institute in Paris on suspicion of tax fraud.
The financial prosecutors’ office began investigating Lange and her daughter Caroline Lange’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein through an offshore company based in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
