PARIS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - French police on Monday searched the Arab World Institute in Paris in connection with an investigation into its former head, ex culture minister Jack Lang, and his ties with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into alleged tax fraud against Lang and his daughter Caroline following the release of documents by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Arab World Institute said it could not comment immediately.
France's National financial prosecutor (PNF) said in a statement that the Arab World Institute was among several locations being raided.
Lang, a former French culture minister under socialist president Francois Mitterrand, resigned earlier this month from the organisation which he had led since 2013.
The Arab World Institute is a Paris-based cultural and research institution under the supervision of France's foreign ministry that promotes understanding of the Arab world.
Lang, who corresponded with Epstein from 2012 and 2019, has denied the accusations against him.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Gianluca Lo Nostro; editing by Richard Lough)
