French appeal for witnesses in their own Jeffrey Epstein inquiry
French police have launched an English language appeal for witnesses in their own investigation into disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Investigators in Paris are seeking victims and witnesses with information relevant to the probe launched in August that is focused on the convicted pedophile’s £8million Paris apartment on Avenue Foch.
The Duke of York is understood to have stayed at the property, which featured photographs of naked women on the walls, on several occasions and could be summoned to Paris to assist prosecutors.
Epstein was arrested on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex after when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey in July following a trip to Paris. He was found hanged in his jail cell the following month.
The alleged abuses took place at his Palm Beach home and on his private island in the Caribbean.
But women have also come forward to allege they were abused at the sprawling Paris mansion, prompting a second criminal probe.
The new appeal states that "given the complexity of the case and its international implications we are again asking victims and witnesses to come forward.”
It goes on: "The judical police are mobilised and ready to receive statements from victims and witnesses of sexual harassment or assault.”
Philippe Guichard, head of the Central Bureau for Violent Crime of the Paris police force which is handling the investigation, said the appeal was translated into English "to reach out to foreign victims or witnesses".
Epstein’s Parisian property, which is understood to feature a massage parlour, was raided by police in September.
Among its guests were Virginia Roberts, the Duke’s accuser, who has alleged she slept with him on three occasions when she was a teenager.
The French investigation has focused on Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modelling agent and former Epstein associate, who is accused in American court documents of rape and of procuring young girls for his friend.
Guichard told AFP news agency that Brunel’s social circle had not opened up to investigators and people who did come forward had "found it hard to identify themselves and get in touch with us".
Eight alleged victims and four witnesses have so far given testimony, according to a judicial source.
Last month, Brunel's lawyer said he vehemently rejected the allegations but denied his client was on the run, insisting he was available for questioning.
In September, French police also raided the offices of Karin Models, an agency founded by Brunel.
It has been claimed that Epstein kept a "black book" detailing the names and contact details of under–age girls whom he had allegedly abused in "Michigan, California, West Palm Beach, New York, New Mexico, and Paris", according to court papers.
