France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office opened a preliminary investigation on Friday into former minister Jack Lang and his daughter Caroline for aggravated tax fraud laundering, following Epstein file revelations. The Lang names appear 673 times in these documents, involving an offshore company. Jack Lang is set to explain his ties to the American financier to the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) launched a preliminary investigation on Friday targeting Jack Lang, the 86-year-old former Culture Minister, and his daughter Caroline for “aggravated tax fraud laundering.” This procedure follows the recent publication of the “Epstein files” by the U.S. Department of Justice, where the names of Jack and Caroline Lang appear more than 673 times.
Caroline Lang, who founded a company with Jeffrey Epstein in 2016, is mentioned in the financier's will, drafted two days before his 2019 death, providing for a $5 million bequest. She and her father owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, Prytanee LLC, established for art purchases, as evidenced by emails between the parties. Caroline Lang resigned on Monday from her position as head of a cinema producers' union, following revelations by Mediapart.
Jack Lang, president of the Institut du monde arabe (IMA) since 2013, stated on Monday that he fully assumes his past ties to Epstein, whom he met about 15 years ago through Woody Allen. On BFMTV on February 2, 2026, he denied doing business with him: “I was stunned to discover a few days ago that my name was in there. Never, the former minister hammers, did he do ‘any business’ with the billionaire.” He refutes any involvement in Prytanee LLC despite his name in the statutes.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, from Beirut, described the situation as of “extreme gravity” and stated that ensuring the IMA's integrity is a “priority.” “My priority is obviously to guarantee the proper functioning, continuity, and integrity of the Institut du monde arabe,” he declared, reserving “all options” on Lang's mandate. The latter, currently in Marrakech, is summoned to the Quai d'Orsay on Sunday, February 8, to explain himself. The executive, including Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, wishes for his departure to protect the institution, without commenting on the merits of the case.
