Paris - Marlene Schiappa, France's gender
equality minister, called on Monday for an investigation into
the activities in France of Jeffrey Epstein, the US financier
found dead in an apparent suicide while being held on
sex-trafficking charges.
"The American investigation has highlighted ties with
France. It therefore seems fundamental to us, and for the
victims, that an investigation should be opened in France so
that all the light is shed on this matter," Schiappa said in a
statement.
Epstein was arrested on July 6 in New Jersey after his
private jet landed on a flight from Paris. The New York Times
reported that he owned property in the French capital.
Epstein, a well-connected money manager dogged for years by
allegations that he sexually abused girls and young women, was
found hanging by his neck, according to a source who was not
authorized to speak publicly.
"We would like to use this occasion to highlight again our
utmost determination to protect young girls from sexual violence
and especially from being exploited by criminal networks, and
this should result in new measures being announced during the
final quarter of this year," added Schiappa.