A French modeling scout with close ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at his home near Paris, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The scout, Daniel Siad, was 69.
An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday following the discovery, according to the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. An autopsy will also be performed.
Mr. Siad arranged for multiple models to meet the disgraced financier for over a decade and was under investigation as one of several Frenchmen accused of aiding Epstein to traffic and abuse women.
Mr. Siad was the subject of a probe that included several complaints, such as allegations of rape, although he denied the claims. At least five women accused him of rape and human trafficking, according to French media.
Menya Arab-Tigrine, Mr. Siad’s lawyer, said her client wanted to give his side of the story before he died.
“He is dead and he was innocent,” she told Agence France-Presse. “If he died of a heart attack, the unbearable waiting, the pressure and the anxiety he suffered every day will have had something to do with it.”
She added, “We must await the autopsy results to confirm whether his body simply gave out.”
The modeling scout’s name appeared nearly 2,000 times in the Justice Department’s declassified Epstein files. The documents detail tens of thousands of dollars of payments from Epstein to Mr. Siad.
All the while, the scout said his relationship with Epstein was strictly professional.
Mr. Siad is the second man publicly linked to Epstein who died in France, following modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.
Brunel was arrested by French authorities in 2020 after allegations that he had procured women for Epstein, but he denied charges of rape of minors and sexual harassment.
Brunel was found hanged in his prison cell in 2022 while awaiting trial. Epstein died the same way in 2019.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.