French authorities are investigating after the body of a model scout who had ties to the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was discovered in her Paris home.
The body of 69-year-old Daniel Chiad was discovered in his home in the Paris suburb of Colombes on Monday, July 20, Marie-Céline Louris, a deputy prosecutor at the Court of Justice of Nanterre, confirmed to USA TODAY.
His cause and manner of death were not immediately known.
Lawris said in an email statement Wednesday that authorities began an investigation Monday night to determine how Sead died, adding that an autopsy is pending in the case.
Siad is one of a number of men named in the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice. The model recruiter’s name appears nearly 2,000 times in the file.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 of pimping a minor and died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of child prostitution.
According to French media, at least five women have accused Mr. Siad of rape and human trafficking, charges he denies. Siad’s lawyer told Reuters his client “has never been the subject of formal judicial proceedings.”
Whose names are on the Epstein files?
Throughout President Donald Trump’s second term, both Democrats and Republicans have criticized his administration’s handling of the Epstein files, but many of the pages distributed were heavily redacted.
Additional Epstein files released by the Justice Department on January 30 revealed new details about Epstein’s relationships with a number of powerful people, including former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. No one was charged with any crime related to Epstein.
Mr. Trump, a former associate of Mr. Epstein, met with Mr. Epstein in the 1990s when both were prominent figures in high finance. President Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein decades ago, but the relationship between the two men stalled him and he later reversed his stance on releasing the files.
The case was thought to have ended after Epstein’s death and the 2021 conviction of Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, but it remains in the spotlight following calls for transparency and Congressional recognition, prompting the Justice Department to release millions of documents under the Epstein File Transparency Act, which was signed into law on November 19.
Contributed by: Reuters
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
