PARIS — French judicial authorities have initiated two parallel criminal investigations stemming from the Jeffrey Epstein case, marking a significant development in the international pursuit of justice. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday it would examine both sexual abuse allegations and financial crimes connected to the deceased financier, leveraging the recently unsealed U.S. government documents.
Prosecutor Laurence Beccuau confirmed the twin probes would utilize the millions of pages of evidence released by American authorities, supplemented by media reports and new victim testimonies. Each investigation will be handled by specialized magistrates with expertise in their respective domains.
“The comprehensive data release will provide crucial contextual understanding,” Beccuau stated during an interview with France Info. “This panoramic view will enable us to reconstruct events with greater precision and identify previously unknown connections.”
The judicial action follows the U.S. Justice Department’s disclosure of over 3 million documents, including thousands of visual materials related to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Beccuau acknowledged the psychological impact on victims, noting: “These publications will inevitably reactivate trauma for certain victims. We believe some remain unknown to authorities, and these revelations may empower them to come forward.”
The prosecutor specifically urged potential victims with information about French connections to provide formal complaints or witness statements. Additionally, existing investigation materials will be re-examined in light of new evidence.
This includes revisiting the closed investigation into Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling agent and Epstein associate accused of rape and sex trafficking of minors. Brunel was found dead in his Paris jail cell in 2022 while awaiting trial.
The Epstein case continues to reverberate through French society, with former Culture Minister Jack Lang recently resigning from his leadership position at the Arab World Institute amid tax fraud suspicions. Financial prosecutors are investigating Lang and his daughter’s alleged connections to Epstein through an offshore entity based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.