London: A French diplomat has become the latest target in a slew of inquiries into prominent Europeans linked to Jeffrey Epstein, heightening concern about the sex offender’s access to political and business leaders over more than a decade.
The French government has asked public prosecutors to investigate Fabrice Aidan for a potential breach of criminal law after his ties to Epstein emerged in dozens of documents released by the US Department of Justice.
Aidan, who worked at the United Nations as well as the French diplomatic corps, emailed Epstein to arrange visitors to his Paris or New York homes at times, and he was also involved in setting up a dinner with a minister from the United Arab Emirates.
The latest documents also include an email from Aidan to Epstein that appeared to include a United Nations document, although the attachment has not been released.
Reuters said it could not reach Aidan for comment via his social media account and that his LinkedIn account appeared to have been deleted.
The investigation into the French diplomat comes days after British police opened further inquiries into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after new information about his links to Epstein emerged in the US documents released on January 30.
Investigations are now under way in at least four countries – Britain, France, Norway and Poland – into people linked to Epstein. This does not include any ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice in the United States.
This masthead is not asserting any wrongdoing by Aidan. The documents found in the latest files from the Department of Justice do not show any awareness by the French diplomat of Epstein’s treatment of young women and his conviction in 2008 for sex with a minor.
Even so, the files reveal Aidan’s messages to Epstein after that conviction, when the American financier had been released from prison and home detention, and they highlight Epstein’s ability to assemble influential networks.
An email in January 2011, for instance, suggests that Aidan invited United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed to a dinner at Epstein’s home. It is unclear whether the dinner took place.
Epstein’s interest in the UAE is a feature of several emails including messages in November 2010 from Mountbatten-Windsor, who said he had recently met “Abdullah” and wanted to introduce Epstein to the crown prince of the UAE. The former prince was a UK trade envoy at the time and was in Dubai on an official visit.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the documents as “extremely serious” and said he had launched an administrative investigation as well as referring the matter to prosecutors under the criminal code.
“These emails, including the transfer of UN documents, are staggering,” Barrot told French radio station RTL.
An email from Aidan to Epstein in May 2012 appeared to include a United Nations document about Lebanon, although the attachment does not appear to have been released by the Department of Justice.
“Here it is,” Aidan wrote to Epstein. The subject line was: “15th semi annual 1559 report”. UN Security Council Resolution 1559 concerns the sovereignty of Lebanon.
Some of the French diplomat’s emails are copied to Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen, who maintained a long friendship with Epstein and is now facing a Norwegian inquiry into those ties.
Rød-Larsen’s wife, Mona Juul, who once served as Norway’s ambassador to the UN, has stepped down from her position in the foreign ministry after her name also emerged in the files.
Norway’s investigations agency, Økokrim, confirmed to Norwegian media that it had charged Juul with serious corruption and Rød-Larsen as an accessory to serious corruption. Investigators searched the couple’s home in Oslo on Monday.
Lawyers for the couple said they were co-operating with the inquiry and that Rød-Larsen expected the charges to be dropped.
With hundreds of emails being revealed over time from the latest Department of Justice files, public figures across Europe are under scrutiny or official investigation for being in contact with Epstein when he was known to be a convicted sex offender.
Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit apologised last week for her friendship with Epstein, and former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland is under investigation.
Jagland’s lawyer, Anders Brosveet, said his client would co-operate with the investigation. “He takes this matter very seriously, but wishes to emphasise that he believes there are no circumstances that constitute criminal liability,” Brosveet said in a statement.
In France, former culture minister Jack Lang is under investigation after the US files revealed a shared stake with Epstein in an offshore company based in the Caribbean.
Lang, a socialist who was a minister in the 1980s and 1990s under president François Mitterrand, resigned as the head of the Arab World Institute in Paris.
In Poland, authorities have set up a taskforce to check Epstein’s contacts in Eastern Europe because of concerns he and his associates were recruiting young women for sex.
Police in the Czech Republic have said they are looking into Epstein’s visits to their country, while a Slovakian minister has resigned after the latest documents showed his friendly exchanges with the sex offender.
With Reuters
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.