Jacques Long, the former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute after revealing his past contacts with a notorious financier and sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein And a financial investigation was launched by French prosecutors.
Long, 86, resigned Saturday night before attending an emergency meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss her relationship with Epstein.
Earlier Saturday, Wrench’s financial prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into Jack Long and his daughter, film producer Carolyn Long, on suspicion of “aggravated tax fraud laundering” after they were mentioned in the Epstein files. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
Long’s departure is the latest example Fall in Europe From the files released by the US Department of Justice on January 30, many of them show Epstein’s social, networking and financial connections. Long was the most high-profile public figure ever captured in France The latest release of private messages From a convicted sex offender.
Long was culture minister under Socialist President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and 90s and oversaw major modernist architectural projects such as the building of the Louvre pyramid. Since 2013, he heads the Institut du Monde Arabe, or Arab World Institute, a cultural and research institute that promotes awareness of the Arab world and is overseen by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Between 2012 and 2019, when Epstein committed suicide in prison, Long was shown in Epstein’s files intermittently with the financier.
According to news agencies, Long was mentioned more than 600 times in the files. He also mentioned his daughter repeatedly.
Caroline Long resigned from France’s Union of Independent Producers this week after emails showed she set up an offshore company with Epstein in 2016 to invest in the work of young artists. She said she resigned from the offshore company in 2019 when more allegations against Epstein came to light. She denied any wrongdoing.
According to a French investigative website, Caroline Long also appeared as a €5m beneficiary in Epstein’s will. Mediapart. She told French public broadcaster France 2 this week that she had never heard of the will and had never seen such a document or received funding.
Jack Long has denied any wrongdoing, saying he was “shocked” that his name appeared in the offshore company’s bylaws in 2016 and that he only appealed to Epstein as a philanthropist.
Laurent Merlet, a lawyer for Jack and Caroline Long, told Agence France-Presse: “There was no movement of funds … but I think it’s normal that justice wants to confirm this.” He said Carolyn Long was “idle” because she didn’t get funding.
In a defense used by other Epstein associates, Long insisted he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal behavior, despite his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“How could such a polite, charming, generous person commit such heinous acts?” Long told French public broadcaster France 2 this week. He said he was shocked to learn of the allegations against Epstein in 2019.
A video showed Lang in front of the Louvre pyramid in Paris in March 2019, months before Epstein was charged with sex-trafficking girls as young as 14.
Le Monde newspaper and Mediapart, which investigated the files, said none of the documents released by the US Justice Department suggested Long or his daughter were implicated in Epstein’s sex crimes.
Earlier this week, Long insisted he would not resign, despite calls from all parties, including his own, to quit.
Long said he was introduced to Epstein by American actor and director Woody Allen.
Epstein had a spacious apartment west of Paris and was a frequent visitor to the French capital before his death in prison in 2019.
