Financial crime prosecutors in France say they have opened a preliminary investigation into former Culture Minister Jack Lang over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Lang, a key figure in French socialist governments between the 1980s and 2000s, is being investigated on suspicion of "laundering the proceeds of tax fraud".
This comes after the US Department of Justice released the Epstein files, which documented links between the Lang family and the late pedophile.
Lang, now 86, denies any wrongdoing and described the allegations against him as "baseless".
He said the investigation "will shed a lot of light on the allegations that are questioning his honor."
Hours after the investigation was announced, Lang offered to resign as head of the Arab World Institute, a body that promotes cooperation and exchanges between France and Arab nations.
In a letter to Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Lang said he would submit his resignation at the next board meeting.
The former French minister, who is mentioned almost 700 times in the Epstein files, had so far resisted pressure to resign.
Barrot said he had accepted the resignation offer and planned to begin the process of searching for a successor.
Lang's daughter, Caroline, 64, is also under investigation in connection with the matter.
Earlier this week she resigned as head of a French film producers' union.
Details from files leaked by French media suggest that Lang approached Epstein for funds or favors on several occasions - including the use of Epstein's private car and plane for himself and his family.
Caroline Lang said she met Epstein in 2012, when he told her he wanted to "invest in young French and international artists."
She said his lawyers had set up a company, Prytanee LLC, based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Lang had received half the shares, but said he had not invested in it nor received funds from it. /Telegraph/
