French police raided the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris on Monday as part of an investigation into its former president, ex–culture minister Jack Lang, who resigned earlier this month amid scrutiny over his past ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The cultural institution was one of several premises searched, France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. Earlier this month, prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline, on suspicion of aggravated tax fraud and money laundering after their names appeared among hundreds of public figures listed in newly released Jeffrey Epstein files.
Both have repeatedly denied any involvement in Epstein’s criminal network. Their lawyer, Laurent Merlet, told the French broadcaster BFMTV that “there was no movement of funds,” according to Reuters.
Paris prosecutors have assembled a dedicated team to analyze millions of documents from the Epstein files in coordination with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and national police. The institute, which is overseen by France’s Foreign Ministry, declined to comment on the police action.
Lang, who served two terms as culture minister under President François Mitterrand, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry at the request of President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. He resigned Saturday from the Institut du Monde Arabe, which he had led since 2013.
In a public letter, Lang framed his resignation as an effort to shield the institution from further reputational harm. Speaking to Agence France-Presse, he described the allegations as “baseless” and said he was confident the investigation would exonerate him.
The documents in question detail how his daughter partnered with Epstein in 2016 in a company called Pyrtanée LLC, described as focused on acquiring works by emerging French artists. According to Lang, she neither invested in nor received funds from the U.S. Virgin Islands–registered company, whose legal and financial structures were handled by Epstein’s lawyers.
On Tuesday, Anne-Claire Legendre, a career diplomat and one of President Emmanuel Macron’s closest advisers on North Africa and the Middle East, was selected by the institute’s board to succeed him. If confirmed, she would become the first woman to lead the institute in its 40-year history.
She assumes leadership at a moment of significant turmoil for the institute, as the Epstein probe follows years of systemic financial strain.
The Institut du Monde Arabe, an art-political bridge of waning influence between Europe and the Arabic-speaking world, now faces a structural deficit tied in part to uneven financial contributions from its 22 member states. A planned outpost in the northern French city of Tourcoing has stalled due to a lack of funding.
