Searches were conducted in the Paris apartment of US financier Jeffrey Epstein, suspected of sexual abuse of minors and died in August in prison, as well as in the agency of models Karin Models, founded by one of his former close, the French Jean-Luc Brunel, one learned Tuesday with the parquet floor of Paris.
The agency of Jean-Luc Brunel raided
Revealed by Franceinfo, these two searches, authorized by a judge of liberties and detention, were carried out within the framework of the investigation for "rapes" and "sexual aggressions", in particular on minors, opened on August 23 by the parquet floor of Paris in the French part of this scandal that broke out in the United States. The first, at the agency Karin Models, took place on September 17, while the second, at the home of Jeffrey Epstein located on the prestigious Avenue Foch, began Monday. According to a source close to the file, the latter, which began at 15:00, ended at 4:00 am Tuesday. Contacted by AFP, the agency declined to comment.
Karin was founded in 1978 by Jean-Luc Brunel, whose name was already included in the US multi-millionaire survey. One of the main plaintiffs in the United States, Virginia Giuffre, claimed to have been forced to have sex with Mr. Brunel. In a first proceeding in the United States, closed in 2007, two women had already accused him of playing the role of reeler for Jeffrey Epstein, bringing to the United States "girls" of modest backgrounds by dangling jobs in the United States. modeling.
Call for witnesses launched by the prosecution
In early September, a former Dutch supermodel accused him of rape in the early 1990s, in a letter sent to the prosecutor of the Republic of Paris.
At least three women have recently been heard by French investigators on this case. The Paris prosecutor's office also launched on September 11 a call for witnesses.
The association Innocence in danger has for its part transmitted to the prosecutor's office several testimonies emanating, according to her, mainly victims of acts "committed on the French soil" by Mr. Epstein, who committed suicide in prison at the age of 66 years old.
The US financier, who regularly traveled to France, was arrested on July 6 and charged in New York for organizing, between 2002 and 2005, a network of dozens of girls, some college girls, with whom he reportedly forced sex in his many properties, including Manhattan and Florida.