French financial prosecutors searched the Paris offices of private bank Edmond de Rothschild last week as part of an investigation into suspected bribery involving former employee and diplomat Fabrice Aidan, in a case linked to documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
The news outlet, which first reported the search, said the raid took place Friday at the bank’s Paris headquarters and was carried out in the presence of Chief Executive Ariane de Rothschild. The investigation, led by France’s Parquet National Financier, is focused on Aidan, a former French diplomat who was named in U.S. Justice Department documents tied to Epstein.
The U.S. files suggest that Aidan passed confidential diplomatic information or provided services to Epstein between 2010 and 2017, according to the report. France’s anti-corruption and financial crime unit, OCLCIFF, questioned Aidan in late February.
The Justice Department documents contain dozens of references to Aidan beginning in 2010, when he was a U.N. diplomat, including emails outlining efforts to help Epstein attend an invitation-only event and arranging a meeting with a minister from the United Arab Emirates, Bloomberg reported.
Aidan served at the United Nations in New York from 2006 to 2013 as chief of staff and special adviser to Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen, AFP said. After leaving diplomacy, he worked at Edmond de Rothschild Bank before later moving to energy group Engie.
Read the AFP report via Luxembourg Times
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