Jack Lang, the former French culture minister, has offered to resign as president of the Arab World Institute (IMA) following the launch of a financial crimes investigation into his alleged links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a letter seen by French press agency AFP on Saturday, Lang informed France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, that he was “proposing to step down” from his position at the IMA.
He added that he would formally submit his resignation “at an upcoming extraordinary meeting of the board.”
The offer comes a day after France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened a preliminary investigation into alleged “aggravated tax fraud laundering” involving Lang and his daughter.
Lang, who has led the IMA since 2013, is due to meet officials from the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
Jack Lang’s daughter steps down from film post over Epstein revelations
Jean-Noël Barrot, whose ministry supervises the IMA, said he had “taken note” of Lang’s decision.
Speaking to reporters following his return from an international trip, Barrot confirmed he would “begin the process to appoint a successor” and convene the institute’s board “within seven days” to name an interim president.
Lang, 86, had been under mounting pressure since the release in late January of previously unseen documents relating to Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender who died in 2019.
According to the website of the US Justice Department where the Epstein files can be consulted, Lang’s name is mentioned 667 times, suggesting regular contact between the two men.
While no charges have been brought against him, the revelations prompted growing calls from across the political spectrum for Lang to step down.
On Saturday, he insisted in a statement sent to AFP that “the accusations made against me are baseless.”
The Arab World Institute, founded in 1980 to foster cultural and scientific exchanges between France and the Arab world, has not yet issued a formal comment on Lang’s proposed resignation.
IWith newswires)
