A French modelling scout linked to the late, disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in mysterious circumstances at his suburban home outside Paris.
Daniel Siad, 69, was under investigation in France alongside several countrymen accused of colluding with Epstein to traffic and abuse women. Rape allegations were also under investigation.
Algeria-born Siad had not yet been questioned by investigators, but had denied the allegations, saying he wanted to be heard and give his version of events to clear his name and make public other elements of the case, FRANCE24 via AFP reports.
“An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery,” the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said Wednesday while confirming the death of the suspect.
An autopsy will be carried out as part of the probe, the FRANCE24 report makes clear. It added:
Targeted by several complaints, including allegations of rape, Siad was the subject of an investigation conducted by the office specialising in combating human trafficking.
Siad’s name appeared in more than 1,000 documents released as part of the declassified Epstein files.
Two former models previously told AFP that Siad groomed them with the aim of delivering them to Epstein in one case in the 2000s and another case in the 1990s.
He allegedly likened his efforts to recruit women to fishing.
“In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish,” Siad wrote to Epstein in 2014.
Siad had insisted he was a victim and the American convicted sex offender had “taken advantage of his trust.”
French authorities in 2020 arrested modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel after allegations he procured women for the U.S. billionaire.
He was found dead in prison in 2022 and the 76-year-old’s “apparent suicide” by hanging bore striking similarities to Epstein’s death in August of 2019.
He too died by hanging in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, as Breitbart News reported.