Jeffrey Epstein's long shadow has reached the “Edmond de Rothschild” bank. Searches by French investigators
French investigators have raided the Paris offices of Swiss bank Edmond de Rothschild as part of a corruption probe into a diplomat named in documents linked to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, France's financial prosecutor's office said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The name of Fabrice Aidan, a mid-ranking French diplomat who was seconded to the United Nations between 2006 and 2013 and later worked at the bank, appeared in more than 200 documents released by the US Department of Justice in the so-called “Epstein Dossier”.
These include emails Aidan is alleged to have sent to Epstein between 2010 and 2016, using his personal and UN accounts.
Some of the emails analyzed by Reuters show that the French diplomat passed on UN Security Council briefings and other confidential documents to Epstein during that period.
Aidan has denied any wrongdoing.
But the French foreign ministry has launched an administrative investigation and disciplinary proceedings against him.
A source close to the Edmond de Rothschild bank told Reuters that the raids announced on Tuesday by French investigators took place last Friday in the presence of Ariana de Rothschild, head of the financial institution.
The same source said that the authorities have the full cooperation of “Edmond de Rothschild” in the investigation led by the financial prosecutor's office, and that the bank started its own internal investigation immediately after suspicions about the former Aidan arose. He had worked at the bank between 2014 and 2016.
Allegations of “passive corruption” against former bank employee
The investigation is being led by officers from France's Central Office for Combating Corruption and Financial-Fiscal Crime, who questioned Aidan in late February.
The French financial prosecutor's office said it was investigating allegations of passive corruption of a foreign public official and complicity in that crime, specifically targeting Aidan.
Ariane de Rothschild also appeared in files released by the US Department of Justice in January that showed she had been in personal correspondence for years with Epstein before his 2019 arrest.
After the files were released, a spokesman for the bank said that Epstein was a business acquaintance of de Rothschild's between 2013 and 2019. The spokesman emphasized that de Rothschild had no knowledge of Epstein's conduct.
The bank was founded in 1953 by Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, a scion of the Rothschild banking family of France. He is believed to have been the richest member of the Rothschild family until his death in 1997.
