Financial crime prosecutors in France say they have opened a preliminary inquiry into former Culture Minister Jack Lang over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, BBC reported. 

Lang, a major figure in French socialist governments between the 1980s and 2000s, is being investigated for suspected "laundering of tax fraud proceeds". 

It follows the US Department of Justice's release of the Epstein files, which have documented links between the Lang family and the late American sex offender, according to BBC.